Football historians know this, but it’s still fascinating and still worth mentioning: The first NFL draft was held in 1936, months after the first Heisman Trophy was awarded in 1935. The draft and the Heisman came into being in the same cycle of the football year. The college Class of 1935 fed directly into the 1936 NFL draft class. The 1935 Heisman winner, Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago, became the first No. 1 pick (and hence, the first pick of any kind) in the history of the NFL draft.
Have you ever stopped to consider which coaches from college football’s long and storied history have produced both the most Heisman Trophy winners and the most No. 1 overall picks? Lincoln Riley is already part of this conversation, but next year, he could rise to the top of the mountain, alongside an established college football icon.
We will lay out the details below: