Mid-American Conference football individual awards
The Mid-American Conference football awards are given annually by the Mid-American Conference (MAC) at the conclusion of each college football season. The conference gives out a total of five awards, the Offensive, Defensive, and Freshman Players of the Year, the Coach of the Year, and the Vern Smith Leadership Award, which is given to the league's MVP in that season. The Vern Smith Award is selected by a vote of the coaches in the MAC while the remaining awards are selected by the MAC News Media Association.[1]
The Freshman Player of the Year award was first given by the MAC after the 1982 football season. That year's winner, Brian McClure, won a slew of MAC accords, including Offensive Player of the Year three times, and the Vern Smith award twice. Ball State, Central Michigan and Western Michigan are tied with the most awards, with players from each school winning five times.
The Vern Smith Leadership Award was started in 1982 by the Downtown Toledo Athletic Club. In that year, it was known as the Jefferson Award and the name was changed to honor the University of Toledo Athletic Director Vern Smith in 1987.[30] The award is given to the top football player in the Mid-American Conference. Only four players have won the award multiple times, with the most recent winner, Larry English, being the only non-quarterback to win it. Northern Illinois leads with seven awards all-time, followed by Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Marshall tied with four awards in each school. The Vern Smith award is the only one voted on by the coaches, with the Coach of the Year, as well as the Players of the Year are selected by the media.
The MAC has awarded a Coach of the Year award every year since 1965. The first award went to Bo Schembechler of Miami University. Only one coach has won the award more than twice, with Frank Lauterbur winning the award in 1967, 1969, and 1970.[32] Only two coaches have won the award beyond their tenth year of coaching. Bill Hess won the award in 1968 in his 11th year of coaching the Ohio Bobcats and Herb Deromedi won the award in 1990, his 13th year of coaching Central Michigan.[33] Also, only one coach, Bill Mallory, has won the award coaching two separate teams. He first earned the award in 1973 while coaching Miami University, and then won ten years later giving Northern Illinois their first Coach of the Year award. Toledo leads all schools with nine awards. Temple won their first award in 2009 when head coach Al Golden won his first MAC Coach of the Year award.[1]
^ abcdefgh"MAC Announces 2009 Post Season Awards". Mid-American Conference. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"History and Records" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcde"Three MAC Football Specialty Awards Handed Out". Mid-American Conference. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2004 Individual Football Awards". Mid-American Conference. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"All-MAC Football Awards Announced". Mid-American Conference. 28 November 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"All-MAC Football Team and Individual Award Winners Announced". Mid-American Conference. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2007 Football Awards". Mid-American Conference. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces Football Post Season Awards". Mid-American Conference. 3 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2010 Football Post Season Awards". Mid-American Conference. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Names 2011 All-MAC Teams & Post Season Awards". Mid-American Conference. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2012 Football Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2013 All-MAC Teams & Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2014 All-MAC Teams & Postseason Football Awards". Mid-American Conference. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2015 All-MAC Football Teams and Post Season Awards". Mid-American Conference. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2016 All-MAC Teams and Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2017 Postseason Football Awards". Mid-American Conference. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2018 All-MAC First, Second, Third Teams and Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2019 All-MAC Teams & Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2020 Football All-MAC and Specialty Awards". Mid-American Conference. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdef"MAC Announces 2021 Postseason Football Awards & All-MAC Teams". Mid-American Conference. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ abcdMarshall was a member of the MAC from 1953 to 1969 and again from 1997 to 2004. They left the conference following the 2004 season to become a member of Conference USA.
^ abcdTemple was a member of the MAC from 2007 to 2011, when they left to become a football-only member of the original Big East Conference, with plans to become full members of that conference in 2013. By the time Temple became an all-sports member, the original Big East had split along football lines, with the non-FBS schools reorganizing as a new, non-football Big East and the remaining FBS schools, including Temple, operating as the American Athletic Conference.
^ abcdCentral Florida was only a member of the MAC from 2002 to 2005, when they left to become a member of Conference USA, along with Marshall. UCF has been a member of The American since 2013.
^ abcdUMass was a football-only member of the MAC from 2011 to 2015, when it left to become an FBS independent after declining full membership in the MAC. UMass will return to MAC football in 2025, when it becomes a full conference member.
^ abcButler was only a MAC member from 1944 to 1950. They currently play football in the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I, playing in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League.
^"MAC Names 2011 All-MAC Teams & Post Season Awards". Retrieved 12 December 2011.
^"Vern Smith Leadership Award" (PDF). 2009 MAC Football Record Book. Mid-American Conference. 2009-07-21. p. 104. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
^"Miami's Ben Roethlisberger Wins Vern Smith Leadership Award". Mid-American Conference. 3 December 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^"MAC Coaches of the Year" (PDF). 2009 MAC Football Record Book. Mid-American Conference. 2009-07-21. p. 101. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
^"All-Time MAC Coaching Records" (PDF). 2009 MAC Football Record Book. Mid-American Conference. 2009-07-21. pp. 100–101. Retrieved 2009-12-02.