The National Football Foundation announced today that Clemson running back Phil Mafah has been named a semifinalist for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy. Mafah earned a degree in management in May 2024 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in athletic leadership.
You can read additional information from the NFF in its full press release below:
IRVING, Texas (Sept. 25, 2024) – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced today a record number of 203 semifinalists for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. The new highwater mark eclipses the 201 nominees in 2023. The impressive list of candidates, from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, boasts an impressive 3.63 average GPA, with more than half of the semifinalists having already earned their bachelor’s degrees.
Celebrating its 35th year, the Campbell Trophy® recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
2024 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® SEMIFINALISTS NOTES
– 35th year of the William V. Campbell Trophy®
– 66th year of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments
– 203 Semifinalists
– 3.63 Average GPA
– 124 Nominees who have already earned their bachelor’s degrees
– 7 Nominees who have earned a master’s degree
– 3 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
– 48 Nominees with a 3.8 GPA or better
– 91 Nominees with a 3.7 GPA or better
– 26 Academic All-America selections
– 128 Captains
– 31 All-Americans
– 129 All-Conference picks
“These 203 semifinalists reflect not only exceptional academic and athletic talent but also the deep-rooted leadership that shows a commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives, which is learned on the gridiron,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “The Campbell Trophy® continues to represent the pinnacle of what it means to be a scholar-athlete, and this year’s candidates exemplify how football builds future leaders who will undoubtedly shape tomorrow’s world.”
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 23, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 10, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 35th Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and room rates at the Bellagio.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior who will complete his final year of eligibility in the 2024 season or graduate student or graduate transfer who has already earned a degree and participating in the 2024 season; 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.
“We are incredibly proud of this year’s semifinalists, who embody the true spirit of the Campbell Trophy®,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of this prestigious award, their achievements remind us of the profound impact scholar-athletes have, not just on their teams, but on the communities they serve and the careers they pursue after football. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates.”
Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 66th year in 2024. 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 922 outstanding individuals since the program’s inception. This year’s postgraduate scholarships will push the program’s all-time distribution to more than $12.9 million.
The Campbell 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 nine 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 storied venue.
Known as “The Coach of Silicon Valley,” Campbell became one of our country’s most influential business leaders, playing critical roles in the success of Apple, Google, Intuit and countless other high-tech companies. The captain of the 1961 Columbia Ivy League championship team, he found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from 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.
Later in life, Campbell was driven by a heartfelt desire to give back, and he quietly gave away tens of millions of dollars to multiple charities while also finding an hour and half each autumn weekday to coach an eighth-grade boys and girls flag-football team near his home in Palo Alto, California. Campbell passed away April 18, 2016, at the age of 75.
As part of its support of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, Fidelity Investments helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®. Once the finalists are selected, the NFF will present each of their faculty athletics representatives with a plaque and Fidelity will donate $5,000 for the academic support services at each school. The salutes have recognized 184 FARs since the program’s inception, and Fidelity has made a total of $920,000 in donations.
2024 Campbell Trophy® Semifinalists by Division and Position
– 95 Nominees from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
– 41 Nominees from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
– 18 Nominees from NCAA Division II
– 44 Nominees from NCAA Division III
– 5 Nominees from the NAIA
– 110 Offensive Players
– 78 Defensive Players
– 15 Special Teams Players
2024 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® SEMIFINALISTS
FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION
Alabama – Jalen Milroe
Appalachian State – Eli Wilson
Arizona – Josh Baker
Arizona State – Leif Fautanu
Arkansas – Hudson Clark
Arkansas State – Jacob Bayer
Auburn – Oscar Chapman
Boise State – Alexander Teubner
Bowling Green State – Demetrius Hardamon
Buffalo – Dom Polizzi
BYU – Connor Pay
California – Craig Woodson
Central Michigan – Dominic Serapiglia
Clemson – Phil Mafah
Colorado State – Tory Horton
Duke – Jordan Moore
Eastern Michigan – Jere Getzinger
Florida – Graham Mertz
Florida Atlantic – Federico Maranges
Florida State – Robert Scott Jr.
Fresno State – Mose Vavo
Georgia Southern – Kyle Frazier
Georgia State – Gavin Pringle
Georgia Tech – Henry Freer
Hawai’i – Logan Taylor
Illinois – Ryan Meed
Indiana – Cooper Jones
Iowa – Luke Lachey
Iowa State – Beau Freyler
Kansas – Jared Casey
Kansas State – Austin Moore
Kentucky – Alex Raynor
Liberty – Quinton Cooley
Louisiana Monroe – Sam Carson
Louisville – Ashton Gillotte
LSU – Josh Williams
Marshall – Logan Osburn
Maryland – Dante Trader Jr.
Memphis – Anthony Landphere
Michigan – Josh Priebe
Michigan State – Maverick Hansen
Middle Tennessee State – Devyn Curtis
Minnesota – Danny Striggow
Mississippi – Jaxson Dart
Mississippi State – Blake Shapen
Missouri – Brady Cook
Nebraska – Isaac Gifford
Nevada, Las Vegas – Jackson Woodard
New Mexico – Aaron Rodriguez
North Carolina – J.J. Jones
North Carolina State – Timothy McKay
North Texas – Jett Duncan
Northern Illinois – J.J. Lippe
Northwestern – Xander Mueller
Notre Dame – Jack Kiser
Ohio State – Seth McLaughlin
Oklahoma – Zach Schmit
Oklahoma State – Alan Bowman
Old Dominion – Jason Henderson
Oregon – Dillon Gabriel
Oregon State – Dylan Black
Penn State – Tyler Warren
Pittsburgh – Terrence Moore
Purdue – Gus Hartwig
Rice – Christian Francisco
Rutgers – Reggie Sutton
SMU – Jake Bailey
South Alabama – Jaden Voisin
South Carolina – Tonka Hemingway
Southern California – Jonah Monheim
Southern Mississippi – Chandler Pittman
Stanford – Tristan Sinclair
Syracuse – Derek McDonald
TCU – Jaise Oliver
Temple – Dante Wright
Tennessee – Keenan Pili
Texas – Jake Majors
Texas A&M – Randy Bond
Texas State – Nash Jones
Texas Tech – Tahj Brooks
Toledo – Maxen Hook
Tulane – Ethan Hudak
UCF – Ethan Barr
United States Air Force Academy – Matthew Dapore
United States Naval Academy – Riley Riethman
Utah – Karene Reid
Utah State – Broc Lane
UTSA (Texas at San Antonio) – Oscar Cardenas
Virginia – Brian Stevens
Virginia Tech – Cole Nelson
Wake Forest – Taylor Morin
Washington State – Dean Janikowski
West Virginia – Garrett Greene
Wisconsin – Hunter Wohler
Wyoming – Will Pelissier
FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION (FCS)
Austin Peay State – Chandler Kirton
Brown – Caleb Moorhead
Bucknell – Brad Jamison
Colgate – Nick Marsh
Columbia – Patrick Passalacqua
Cornell – Matthew Pilc
Dartmouth – Braden Mullen
Dayton – Dylan DeMaison
Delaware – Tyron Herring
East Tennessee State – William McRainey
Eastern Illinois – Elkhanan Tanelus
Eastern Washington – Efton Chism III
Elon – Caleb Curtain
Fordham – James Conway
Harvard – Dominic Young-Smith
Holy Cross – Jordan Fuller
Howard – Terrance Hollon
Illinois State – Hunter Zambrano
Jackson State – Matthew Noll
Lamar – Robert Coleman
Lehigh – Mike DeNucci
Marist – Gannon McCorkle
Monmouth – Jack Neri
Montana – Trevin Gradney
Montana State – Brody Grebe
New Hampshire – Ryan Toscano
Nicholls State – Collin Guggenheim
North Dakota – Jaden Norby
North Dakota State – Cam Miller
Pennsylvania – Julian Talley
Richmond – Wayne Galloway
South Dakota State – Mark Gronowski
Stony Brook – RJ Lamarre
Tennessee at Chattanooga – Reuben Lowery III
Tennessee Tech – Hayden Olsen
Texas A&M-Commerce – Jewelz-Unique Demps
Towson – Chris Watkins
Valparaiso – Sam Hafner
Western Carolina – Micah Nelson
William & Mary – Ryan McKenna
Yale – Bennie Anderson
DIVISION II
Ashland (OH) – Tony Pannunzio
Bentley (MA) – Joe Rivers
Black Hills State (SD) – Aaron Thiele
Carson-Newman (TN) – Major Williams
Colorado State Pueblo – Jon Nuschy
East Stroudsburg (PA) – John Siggins
Hillsdale (MI) – Logan VanEnkevort
Minnesota State, Mankato – Marshall Foerner
New Haven (CT) – Joseph Vitale
Northern State (SD) – Jacob Schloe
Northwest Missouri State – Andrew Dumas
Ouachita Baptist (AR) – Kendel Givens
Penn Western, California – Jaheim Bassham
Pittsburg State (KS) – Chad Dodson
Slippery Rock (PA) – Brayden Long
Southwest Baptist (MO) – Logan Turner
Wayne State (MI) – Griffin Milovanski
Wingate (NC) – Trevor Bryan
DIVISION III
Allegheny (PA) – Carson Messemer
Berry (GA) – Hayden Cagle
Bethel (MN) – Nate Farm
Bluffton (OH) – Kainan Stoner
Carnegie Mellon (PA) – Robert Coury
Central (IA) – Grant Nelson
Coe (IA) – Alex Aitchison
Cornell (IA) – Tony Gomez
DePauw (IN) – Jonathan Bruder
Gallaudet (DC) – John Scarboro
Gustavus Adolphus (MN) – Jake Breitbach
Hampden-Sydney (WI) – Will Thomas
Hardin-Simmons (TX) – Cason Hanna
Hendrix (AR) – Kanyn Utley
Hobart (NY) – Ethan Kowalski
Hope (MI) – Dylan Clem
John Carroll (OH) – Matt Wrather
Johns Hopkins (MD) – Bay Harvey
King’s (PA) – Jared Reto
Lake Forest (IL) – Sean Brady
Lycoming (PA) – Jake Welch
Lyon (AR) – Slayton Wheeler
Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) – Johnny Smith-Rider
Millsaps (MS) – Preston Hill
Moravian (PA) – Prince Sokpo
North Central (IA) – Luke Lehnen
Saint John’s (MN) – Aaron Syverson
Springfield (MA) – Arsen Shtefan
St. Olaf (MN) – Theodore Doran
SUNY Cortland – Zac Boyes
Texas Lutheran – Mason Hardy
Trinity (CT) – Sean Clapp
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (NY) – Cameron Taylor
Washington & Jefferson (PA) – Dawson Dietz
Wesleyan (CT) – Sean Walker
Western New England (MA) – Jason Shumilla
Westminster (PA) – Matthew Howard
Wheaton (IL) – Giovanni Weeks
Wisconsin-Oshkosh – John Schirger
Wisconsin-River Falls – Aaron Borgerding
Wisconsin-Stout – Luke Mertens
Wisconsin-Whitewater – Matthew Burba
Wooster (OH) – Andrew Hammer
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) – Doug Cain
NAIA
Carroll (MT) – Hunter Peck
Dakota State (SD) – Collin Brueggeman
Evangel (MO) – Nate Swofford
Indiana Wesleyan – Levi Tidwell
Texas Wesleyan – Jaysen Price
Historical List of Campbell Trophy® Winners
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)
2020 – Brady White (Memphis)
2021 – Charlie Kolar (Iowa State)
2022 – Jack Campbell (Iowa)
2023 – Bo Nix (Oregon)
About The National College Football Awards Association
The William V. Campbell Trophy® is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 24 awards now boast over 900 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship, and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters in 47 states, NFF programs include the criteria, selection and induction of members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta; Future For Football; I Played; the William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Awards presented by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation & Hatchell Cup presented by the Original Bob’s Steak & Chop House; and a series of programs and initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Bruin Capital, Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Hampshire Companies, Hanold Associates Executive Search, Jostens, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the Sports Business Journal.
– via press release