The

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

gave five football awards at the conclusion of every season. The awards were first given in 1991 following the conference's first football season, and last given in 2012 before the conference was restructured as the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. The five awards included Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Special Teams Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Recipients were selected by the votes of the conference's eight head coaches. Award recipients included

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winners, NFL first-round draft picks, and NFL All-Star selections. The

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

were the most successful team through the school's tenure with the conference from 1991 to 2004, winning six awards for offensive players, seven for defense, four for special teams, three for Rookie of the Year, and six for Coach of the Year. Every conference member received at least two awards.

Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and b ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

is the only player to win more than two awards; he was named Rookie of the Year in 1995 and Offensive Player of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is a retired American college football coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and former college football player. He is the father of current South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho ( ...

of Miami, and Brian Kelly of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

were each Coach of the Year three times.

Offensive Player of the Year

The Offensive Player of the Year was awarded to the player voted most-outstanding at an offensive position. The first two awards were given to

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Gino Torretta Gino Louis Torretta (born August 10, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy in 1992, and w ...

of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. In 1992, Torretta was a unanimous selection, the first of only two players to receive that distinction as of 2012. The other unanimous selection was

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Jordan Todman Jordan Todman (born February 24, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Connecticut. Todman has also played for the Minne ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in 2010. There have been three ties: in 1996, 2001, and 2002, and a three-way tie in 2001. Besides Torretta, quarterbacks

Ken Dorsey Kenneth Simon Dorsey (born April 22, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, ...

of Miami and Pat White of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

have both been awarded twice; Dorsey's awards in 2001 and 2002 were both ties.

was selected three times and became the second overall pick in the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. Miami has received the most awards, six before leaving the conference in 2004. Only

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

(who joined in 2005) and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

(which joined in 1991, was expelled after the 2004 season, and returned in 2012) have no offensive winners. Of the 27 winners, there were 15 quarterbacks, eight running backs, three wide receivers, and one

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. Nine seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores, and two freshmen were honored.

Winners

Larry Fitzgerald catches TD at 2009 Pro Bowl

Winners by school

Defensive Player of the Year

The Defensive Player of the Year award was given 26 times, with ties in 1991, 2001, 2009, and 2011. Of the 26 winners, 16 were defensive linemen. Seven linebackers and three safeties were honored. Of the recipients, 17 were seniors, eight juniors, and

George Selvie George Selvie (born March 6, 1987) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. He was drafted by the St. Louis ...

the only sophomore. The first award in 1991 was a tie between Darrin Smith, a Miami linebacker, and George Rooks, a defensive lineman from Syracuse. Miami then won three consecutive awards between 1992 and 1994. Only two players have won the award twice—

Corey Moore Corey Moore (born March 20, 1979) is a former American college and professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) during the early 2000s. He played college football for Virginia Tech, ea ...

in 1998 and 1999, and

Khaseem Greene Khaseem Greene (born February 4, 1989) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers. Early years ...

, who shared the award in 2011 and won it outright in 2012. Like Offensive Player of the Year, Miami won the most defensive awards as well, with seven. Pittsburgh follows with the second most awards with five, including the 2009 Co-Defensive Players of the Year, which is the only occasion where two teammates have been co-selected in the same season. During Temple's first tenure in Big East football from 1991 to 2004, its only conference award was when Dan Klecko won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2002. Of the original 1991 members, Pittsburgh took the longest to win the defensive award, first winning with H.B. Blades in 2006. Pittsburgh won again with another linebacker, Scott McKillop, in 2008. The only member that has failed to win this award is

, which did not join Big East football until 2004.

Winners

Winners by school

Special Teams Player of the Year

The Special Teams Player of the Year award was given to the player voted best on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. The recipient was either be a placekicker, punter, returner, or a position known as a gunner. The first winner was Kevin Williams, a returner from Miami. Andy Lee, a Pittsburgh punter, and Cincinnati kick returner

Mardy Gilyard Marshawn "Mardy" Gilyard (born December 2, 1986) is a current American football wide receiver who is a free agent and current defensive backs coach at Nichols College. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL D ...

were the only players to receive the award more than once. There were 24 recipients, with ties in 2002 and 2003. Of the award recipients, 12 were seniors, nine juniors, and three sophomores. Three placekickers won the award, most recently Virginia Tech's

Shayne Graham Michael Shayne Graham (born December 9, 1977) is an American football coach and former placekicker. Graham played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech. He made his professional debut in Ma ...

in 1999.

Todd Sauerbrun Todd Scott Sauerbrun (; born January 4, 1973) is a former American college and professional American football, football player who was a punter (American football), punter in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He played col ...

was the first punter to win after he was a unanimous selection in 1994. Notably, Temple players received both the Special Teams Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year (see below) awards in 2012, the first year of the Owls' last Big East tenure. During Temple's previous tenure in Big East football from 1991 to 2004, the Owls received only one conference award.

Winners

Andy Lee on field pregame at Eagles at 49ers 10-12-08

Winners by school

Rookie of the Year

The Rookie of the Year award was given to the conference's best freshman. Tom Tumulty from Pittsburgh was the first winner.

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

Dion Lewis Dion John Lewis (born September 27, 1990) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Philadelphia ...

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. Fitzgerald played in the National Football League for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of Pittsburg ...

, and

Teddy Bridgewater Theodore Edmond Bridgewater Jr. (born November 10, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he graduated from Miami Northwestern high school. Br ...

also won Offensive Player of the Year honors, with Vick and Lewis winning both awards in the same season.

Winners

Winners by school

Coach of the Year

won the first two awards with Miami in 1991 and 1992 after 12–0 and 11–0 seasons, respectively. Erickson, Brian Kelly (then of Cincinnati), and

of Virginia Tech each won the award three times.

Larry Coker Larry Edward Coker (born June 23, 1948) is a former American football coach and player. He previously served as the head coach of the University of Miami and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Coker's 2001 Miami Hurricanes football ...

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Uni ...

, Charlie Strong, and Walt Harris have each won twice. Miami and Rutgers had the most individual winners of the award, with three.

Terry Shea Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), Am ...

of Rutgers is the only winner after a losing season, while Walt Harris was 6–6 in 1997. The award was shared twice; both times, Strong was one of the recipients. He shared the award with

Randy Edsall Randy Douglas Edsall (born August 27, 1958) is a retired American football coach, formerly the head football coach at the University of Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2017 until his abrupt retirement in 2021. He also served as the h ...

in 2010 and

Kyle Flood Kyle J. Flood (born January 20, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Texas Longhorns football team. He is also the former head football coach of the Ru ...

in 2012. Five coaches have won the award in their first year at a school—Harris in 1997, Coker in 2001, Kelly in 2007, Strong in 2010, and Flood in 2012.

Winners

Winners by school

Footnotes

* Miami left the Big East for the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) after 2004. * The 2012 season was the last for Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the Big East. Both schools will join the ACC in July 2013. * Virginia Tech left for the ACC after 2004. * West Virginia left for the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

after 2011. * Boston College left for the ACC after 2005. * Louisville has announced it will leave for the ACC after 2013. * Rutgers has announced it will leave for the Big Ten after 2013. * Temple, then a football-only member, was expelled from the Big East after the 2004 season due to poor attendance and non-competitiveness. They spent the following two seasons as an independent before becoming a football-only member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

in 2007. The Owls returned to Big East football in 2012, and became an all-sports member of the renamed Big East in 2013. * Michael Vick and Dion Lewis were selected as both Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in the same season, 1999 and 2009, respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big East Conference Football Awards College football conference awards and honors Big East Conference football

Offensive Player of the Year

Winners

Winners by school

Defensive Player of the Year

Winners

Winners by school

Special Teams Player of the Year

Winners

Winners by school

Rookie of the Year

Winners

Winners by school

Coach of the Year

Winners

Winners by school

Footnotes

See also

References