Brandon Coleman, a fifth-year senior on the Drake University football team, has been named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, the organization announced Wednesday (Oct. 2). He status as an NFF Scholar-Athletes also makes him a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell Trophy which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for their performance on and off the field.
Coleman, a defensive lineman from Cary, Ill., is a secondary education major with a 3.65 grade point average. He is one of a record 170 candidates across all divisions of football to be nominated for the award that honors seniors with a 3.2 GPA or higher who have demonstrated 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.
On the field, he is a two-time all-Pioneer Football League selection that led the Bulldogs in sacks and tackles for loss last season while ranking 23rd and 26th nationally in both categories, respectively. Prior to the start of the 2013, he was named a team captain by his teammates.
Academically, he is a two-time All-PFL Academic Team honoree and a four-time PFL Honor Roll selection. In 2012, he was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
“We take great pride in the record participation by the number of schools in the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program this year,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (William V. Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “It is important for us to showcase that success on the football field starts with winners in the classroom and the community. This year’s record-breaking number of nominations further illustrates the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders.”
The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Thursday, October 31. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2013 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2013 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City to be honored Dec. 10 during the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the William V. Campbell Trophy.
2013 NFF Scholar-Athlete Notes
• NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program launched in 1959.
• 170 nominations, record number since minimum GPA increased in 2006.
• 3.60 Average GPA
• 7 nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
• 39 nominees with a 3.8 GPA or better
• 105 Team Captains
• 97 All-Conference Picks
• 29 Academic All-America Selections
• 21 All-America Selections
• One former NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete
• 54 Nominees from the Football Bowl Subdivision
• 46 Nominees from the Football Championship Subdivision
• 24 Nominees from the Division II
• 39 Nominees from the Division III
• 7 Nominees from the NAIA
• 86 Offensive Players
• 64 Defensive Players
• 20 Special Teams Players
Football Bowl Subdivision
Alabama – Cade Foster
Arizona – Jake Fischer
Arkansas – Austin Tate
Arkansas State – Brian Davis
Army – Brian Zalneraitis
Auburn – Steven Clark
Ball State – Zane Fakes
Baylor – Jordan Najvar
Boise State – Kirby Moore
Buffalo – Alex Neutz
California – Mark Brazinski
Colorado – Nate Bonsu
Colorado State – Chris Nwoke
Duke – Perry Simmons
East Carolina – Trent Tignor
Florida Atlantic – Andrew Stryffeler
Fresno State – Derek Carr
Georgia – Aaron Murray
Georgia Tech – Will Jackson
Houston – Kevin Forsch
Illinois – Nathan Scheelhaase
Iowa – James Morris
Iowa State – Jeff Woody
Kentucky – Joe Mansour
Memphis – Jacob Karam
Michigan – Courtney Avery
Michigan State – Max Bullough
Middle Tennessee State – Logan Kilgore
Minnesota – Aaron Hill
Mississippi – D.T. Shackelford
Nebraska – Spencer Long
Nevada – Joel Bitonio
North Texas – Zach Orr
Northern Illinois – Matthew Krempel
Oklahoma – Gabe Ikard
Oklahoma State – Clint Chelf
Penn State – John Urschel
Purdue – Rob Henry
Rice – Tanner Leland
Rutgers – Quron Pratt
South Florida – Luke Sager
Southern California – Devon Kennard
SMU – Randall Joyner
Syracuse – Richard MacPherson
Temple – Ryan Alderman
Texas – Nate Boyer
TCU – Jon Koontz
UTSA – Eric Soza
Toledo – Zac Kerin
Troy – Will Scott
Vanderbilt – Fitz Lassing
Virginia – Jake Snyder
Virginia Tech – Trey Gresh
West Virginia – Chris Feigt
Football Championship Subdivision
Alabama State – Bobby Wenzig
Albany – Eric LaPorta
Appalachian State – Tony Washington
Austin Peay State – Ben Stansfield
Brown – Michael Yules
Bucknell – Tracey Smith
Butler – Matt Lancaster
Campbell – Kurt Odom
Coastal Carolina – Niccolo Mastromatteo
Columbia – Zach Olinger
Cornell – Jeff Mathews
Dartmouth – Michael Runger
Dayton – Colin Monnier
Delaware – Mike Milburn
Delaware State – Marco Kano
Drake – Brandon Coleman
Eastern Illinois – Cameron Berra
Eastern Kentucky – Ichiro Vance
Harvard – Cameron Brate
Holy Cross – John Macomber
Lamar – Kollin Kahler
Marist – Tyler Ramsey
Montana – Bo Tully
Montana State – Tanner Bleskin
New Hampshire – Mike MacArthur
North Carolina Central – Jordan Reid
North Dakota – Jake Miller
North Dakota State – Ryan Drevlow
Northern Arizona – Drew Emanuel
Northern Colorado – Seth Lobato
Northern Iowa – Dan Kruger
Portland State – Mitch Gaulke
Sacramento State – Markell Williams
Saint Francis – Kyle Harbridge
Sam Houston State – Matt Boyles
San Diego – Blake Oliaro
South Dakota State – Brandon Hubert
Southern Illinois – Austin Pucylowski
Stephen F. Austin – Ryne Chambers
Tennessee Tech – James Normand
Valparaiso – Alex Grask
Weber State – Tony Epperson
Western Carolina – Clark Sechrest
Wofford – James Zotto
Yale – Beau Palin
Youngstown State – Kurt Hess
Division II
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) – Nick Grunsky
Bemidji State (Minn.) – Buckley Wright
Benedict (S.C.) – Martin Epps
Chadron State (Neb.) – Glen Clinton
Colorado School of Mines – Chad McGraw
East Stroudsburg (Pa.) – Robert Bleiler
Eastern New Mexico – Christopher Barnard
Edinboro (Pa.) – Cody Harris
Fort Lewis (Colo.) – Doyle Bode
Hillsdale (Mich.) – Steven Embry
LIU-Post (N.Y.) – Tommy Williams
Northwest Missouri State – Trevor Adams
Ohio Dominican – Dominic Clegg
Pittsburg State (Kan.) – Joe Windscheffel
Southern Arkansas – Tyler Sykora
Southern Nazarene (Okla.) – Stan West
Divison II (cont’d)
St. Cloud State (Minn.) – Phillip Klaphake
Stonehill (Mass.) – James Lanier
Texas A&M-Kingsville – Zane Brown
Tusculum (Tenn.) – Bo Cordell
Wayne State (Mich.) – Chet Privett
West Texas A&M – Dustin Vaughan
William Jewell (Mo.) – Sean Shelton
Wingate (N.C.) – Robbie Nellenweg
Division III
Albright (Pa.) – John Harding
Augustana (Ill.) – Erik Westerberg
Bethel (Minn.) – J.D. Mehlhorn
Bluffton (Ohio) – Shawn Frost
California Lutheran – Andrew Pankow
Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) – Rob Kalkstein
Case Western (Ohio) – Steven Magister
DePauw (Ind.) – Eric Malm
Dubuque (Iowa) – Tyson Carter
East Texas Baptist – Jacob Alford
Franklin & Marshall (Pa.) – Sam Dickinson
Gallaudet (D.C.) – Nicholas Elstad
Grinnell (Iowa) – Quinn Rosenthal
Hampden-Sydney (Va.) – Will Ferrell, Jr.
Hardin-Simmons (Texas) – Chuck North
Hobart (N.Y.) – Michael Green
Hope (Mich.) – Michael Atwell
Johns Hopkins (Md.) – John Arena
Juniata (Pa.) – Jared Shope
Kenyon (Ohio) – Zach Morrow
Lycoming (Pa.) – C.J. Arhontakis
Macalester (Minn.) – Joe Dykema
Manchester (Ind.) – Ryne Lehrman
Massachusetts Maritime – John Moriarty
Minnesota-Morris – Brendon Foss
North Central (Ill.) – Alex Mann
Oberlin (Ohio) – Zachary Kisley
Ohio Wesleyan – Mason Espinosa
Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) – Duncan Hussey
Redlands (Calif.) – Kevin Grady
Saint John’s (Minn.) – Dylan Graves
Wash. in St. Louis (Mo.) – Andrew Skalman
Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) – B.J. Monacelli
Widener (Pa.) – Colin Masterson
Wisconsin-Eau Claire – Nick Hirsch
Wisconsin-Oshkosh – Cory Wipperfurth
Wisconsin-Stout – David Goebel
Wittenberg (Ohio) – Kyle Sanning
Worcester Polytechnic (Mass.) – Tim Grupp
NAIA
Bethel (Tenn.) – Joey Dienye
Carroll (Mont.) – Michael Siegersma
Cumberlands (Ky.) – Mitchell Mascaro
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) – Mark Kosrow
Ottawa (Kan.) – Travis Adamson
Peru State (Neb.) – Zach Lempka
William Penn (Iowa) – Brock Peery