Clemson's Will Swinney Named Semifinalist for Campbell 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy

Nominated by Clemson as the team’s best scholar-athlete, Will Swinney was announced as a 2020 semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is annually bestowed by the National Football Foundation to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.

Nominated by Clemson as the team’s best scholar-athlete, Will Swinney was announced as a 2020 semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is annually bestowed by the National Football Foundation to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.

As a semifinalist, Swinney  has:

• An opportunity to receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship, which is awarded to each of the 12-to-14 finalists for the Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda.
• An opportunity to be the winner of the coveted 24-pound bronze Campbell Trophy, which comes with a $25,000 post-graduate scholarship and an appearance (virtual this year) on the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
• An opportunity to win a $5,000 donation from Fidelity Investments to support the school’s academic services department.

Past winners include Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Chad Pennington (Marshall), Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Acho (Texas), Christian Wilkins (Clemson) and last year’s recipient Justin Herbert from Oregon.

Full Release:

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced today an all-time record of 199 semifinalists for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, establishing an exciting new highwater mark for one of college football’s most sought-after and coveted awards.

“This is terrific news. To set a record for the number of Campbell nominees is extra special during the pandemic because it shows how the stature of the award continues to rise even during these challenging times,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “We have worked hard to expand the profile of the award, and it’s extremely gratifying to have so many schools participate this year with nominations. We believe it sends an important message to the younger student-athletes that you truly can do it all, succeeding on the field, in the classroom and as leaders in the community.”

Celebrating its 31st year, the award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The NFF will announce 12-to-14 finalists in November, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2020 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. Later this year, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 31st Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, having his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000 and receiving his own 25-pound-bronze version of the iconic statue.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

“It is wonderful to see a record number of semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy® during such a turbulent year, proving the Future for Football is bright,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist’s achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates.”

In September 2019, Mazda announced a three-year partnership to become the presenting sponsor of the Campbell Trophy®, kicking off the automaker's Power of Potential Platform. Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of workplace savings plans in higher education, serves as the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards.

Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 62nd year in 2020. The awards were the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on both a player’s academic and athletic accomplishments, and the NFF has recognized 866 outstanding individuals since the program’s inception. This year’s postgraduate scholarships will push the program’s all-time distribution to more than $11.9 million. The trophy was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program’s prestige. Past recipients include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and seven first-round NFL draft picks.

Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, the trophy has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club since 2013, and the winner is honored each year during a special luncheon at the venue.

An All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team, Bill Campbell found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.

As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell’s unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley, using the lessons of the gridiron to mentor Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others. His contributions were recently captured in a new book titled "The Trillion Dollar Coach," and during his lifetime, he affectionally became known as the “Coach of Silicon Valley.”

Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell's contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football's premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® in his honor.

2020 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® PRESENTED BY MAZDA SEMIFINALISTS NOTES

• 31st year of the William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda
• 62nd year of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments
• 199 Nominations
• 3.67 Average GPA
• 9 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
• 59 Nominees with a 3.8 GPA or better
• 72 Nominees with a 3.7 GPA or Better
• 18 Academic All-America Selections
• 94 Captains
• 110 All-Conference Picks
• 18 All-Americans
• 85 Nominees from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
• 45 Nominees from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
• 20 Nominees from NCAA Division II
• 40 Nominees from NCAA Division III
• 9 Nominees from the NAIA
• 107 Offensive Players
• 72 Defensive Players
• 20 Special Teams Players

The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, include:

1990 – Chris Howard (Air Force)

1991 – Brad Culpepper (Florida)

1992 – Jim Hansen (Colorado)

1993 – Thomas Burns (Virginia)

1994 – Rob Zatechka (Nebraska)

1995 – Bobby Hoying (Ohio State)

1996 – Danny Wuerffel (Florida)

1997 – Peyton Manning (Tennessee)

1998 – Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia)

1999 – Chad Pennington (Marshall)

2000 – Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska)

2001 – Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami [FL])

2002 – Brandon Roberts (Washington U. in St. Louis [MO])

2003 – Craig Krenzel (Ohio State)

2004 – Michael Munoz (Tennessee)

2005 – Rudy Niswanger (LSU)

2006 – Brian Leonard (Rutgers)

2007 – Dallas Griffin (Texas)

2008 – Alex Mack (California)

2009 – Tim Tebow (Florida);

2010 – Sam Acho (Texas)

2011 – Andrew Rodriguez (Army West Point)

2012 – Barrett Jones (Alabama)

2013 – John Urschel (Penn State)

2014 – David Helton (Duke)

2015 – Ty Darlington (Oklahoma)

2016 – Zach Terrell (Western Michigan)

2017 – Micah Kiser (Virginia)

2018 – Christian Wilkins (Clemson)

2019 – Justin Herbert (Oregon)