Bama Central

2020 Alabama Football Awards Tracker: 11 Players and Coaches Finalists in National Awards

The Crimson Tide has had an impressive season so far, with many players up for awards this year

Joey Blackwell

A total of seven Alabama football players were announced as finalists for national awards on Tuesday morning.

The list of the players and the respective awards that they are up for is as follows: Landon Dickerson (Rimington); Najee Harris (Doak Walker); Mac Jones (Davey O’Brien, Johnny Unitas, Manning, Maxwell); Alex Leatherwood (Outland); Will Reichard (Groza); DeVonta Smith (Biletnikoff, Maxwell); and Patrick Surtain II (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe).

Also announced on Tuesday was that Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is one of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award, an award given annually to the best assistant coach in college football.

A couple of hours after Sarkisian's announcement, head football coach Nick Saban was also announced as one of eight finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, the annual award honoring the top coach in college football.

On Monday, Saban was also announced by the Football Writers Association of America as one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.

Saban joins eight other finalists who are also up for the award, including Dabo Swinney of Clemson, Tom Allen of Indiana, Brent Brennan of San Jose State, Matt Campbell of Iowa State, Jamey Chadwell of Coastal Carolina, Karl Dorrell of Colorado, Luke Fickell of Cincinnati and Kalani Sitake of BYU.

Also on Monday, the Alabama offensive line was named one of three finalists for the Joe Moore Award on Monday morning, the award's committee announced. The award is given annually to the most outstanding offensive line unit in college football.

Along with Alabama, the other finalists are Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

In other finalist news, Crimson Tide cornerback Patrick Surtain II was one of five players named a finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award for defensive player of the year by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

The other finalists are Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins, Coastal Carolina defensive end Tarron Jackson, Iowa defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon, and Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

On Wednesday morning, Alabama long snapper Thomas Flecther was named a finalist for the Patrick Mannelly Long Snapper Award. He is one of three finalists along with Georgia Southern's Ryan Langan, and USC's Damon Johnson. 

Smith added to his resume with being named a Paul Hornung Award finalist, which honors the nation's most versatile player, along with Clemson's Travis Etienne, North Carolina's Michael Carter, Florida's Kadarius Toney, and Western Michigan's D’Wayne Eskridge.

Tulsa's Zaven Collins was announced as the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner over the Crimson Tide's Surtain on Dec. 23.. He had 43 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions, four sacks, and a fumble recovery for the Golden Hurricanes.

Semifinalists 

With the 2020 college football regular season coming to a close and conference championships and bowl games quickly approaching, multiple Alabama players are in the running for national awards this season.

On Wednesday, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones was named one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards, an annual award presented to the top quarterback in college football.

Along with Jones, the other four finalists are Notre Dame's Ian Book, Ohio State's Justin Fields, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Florida's Kyle Trask.

Jones was also named on Thursday as one of 12 finalists for the Manning Award, an award given out by the Allstate Sugar Bowl every season and is the only quarterback award that considers the players' bowl performances in its criteria.

Last week Jones, running back Najee Harris and wide receiver DeVonta Smith were all nominated for the Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year. In addition, Jones was also nominated a semifinalist for the Davey o'Brien National Quarterback Award as well as one of the 10 semifinalists of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Smith also received another recognition by being named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, the annual award issued to college football's top receiver.

On defense, cornerback Patrick Surtain was nominated along with 17 other semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year.

With a perfect season so far, place kicker Will Reichard has been nominated as a semifinalist of the Lou Groza national Collegiate Place-Kicker Award. Reichard is 77-for-77 so far this season and fits right in with the other 19 semifinalists.

His efforts might go unnoticed to the causal fan, but long snapper Thomas Fletcher was named a semifinalist for the Thomas Mannelly Long Snapper Award, which honors the best in college football.

Later on the afternoon of Dec. 9, Surtain was named one of the five semifinalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is awarded to the best all-around defensive player in the nation.

On Monday, the Alabama offensive line was honored as one of 11 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, an annual award issued to the best all-around offensive line in college football.

Meanwhile on Dec. 23, Saban was named a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year, which is presented by the Maxwell Football Club. The other 11 semifinalists included Clemson's Swinney, Indiana's Allen, San Jose State's Brennan, Iowa State's Campbell, Coastal Carolina's Chadwell, Cincinnati's Fickell, BYU's Sitake, Ohio State's Ryan Day, Liberty's Hugh Freeze, and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly.

Here is a list of all of the awards that have been announced:

Mac Jones, QB

  • Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award (3 finalists)
  • Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (winner)
  • Maxwell Award (3 finalists)
  • Manning Award (12 finalists)
  • Heisman Trophy (4 finalists)

Najee Harris, RB

  • Doak Walker Award (3 finalists)
  • Maxwell Award (semifinalist)

DeVonta Smith, WR

  • Maxwell Award (3 finalists)
  • Biletnikoff Award (3 finalists)
  • Paul Hornung Award (winner)
  • Heisman Trophy (4 finalists)

Landon Dickerson, C

  • Dave Rimington Trophy (3 finalists)

Alex Leatherwood, OT

  • Outland Trophy (3 finalists)

Will Reichard, PK

  • Lou Groza National Collegiate Place-Kicker Award (3 finalists)

Patrick Surtain II, DB

  • Chuck Bednarik Award (3 finalists)
  • Lott IMPACT Trophy (24 semifinalists)
  • Jim Thorpe Award (3 finalists)
  • Bronko Nagurski Trophy (5 finalists)

Christian Harris, LB

  • Butkus Award (16 semifinalists)
    • Winner: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Notre Dame)

Dylan Moses, LB

  • Lott IMPACT Trophy (24 semifinalists)
  • Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award (14 semifinalists)

Thomas Fletcher, LS

  • The Patrick Mannelly Long Snapper Award (10 semifinalists) 

Offensive Line

  • Joe Moore Award (winner)

Nick Saban, Head Coach

  • Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (9 finalists)
  • Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award (8 finalists)
  • George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year (12 semifinalists)

Steve Sarkisian, OC/QB Coach

  • Frank Broyles Award (winner)

This story will be updated as more nominations for the 2020 season are issued.

Published
Joey Blackwell
JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.

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