1990 Draddy Winner Continues Record of Leadership

Dr. Christopher Howard, the first recipient of the NFF Draddy Trophy in 1990, has been named as the first African-American president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. Howard, most recently vice president for leadership and strategic initiatives at Oklahoma, was selected during a specially called meeting of the Hampden-Sydney board of trustees to succeed Walter M. Bortz III, who will step down June 30, 2009. Howard, a 1991 Air Force Academy graduate and standout running back for the Falcons, claimed a Rhodes Scholarship, earning a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University. He then returned to states where he earned an MBA from Harvard.

NFF Bowl Highlights

The Orange, Sugar, and Sun bowls will all be celebrating their 75th anniversaries this week… Commemorating its 75th anniversary, the Orange Bowl Committee is contributing $2.5 million to the City of Miami for a new youth football stadium at Moore Park, the site of the first match-up between the Miami Hurricanes and Manhattan College in 1933…

Marking its 75th Anniversary, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will host a Legends Luncheon on Jan. 2 (Game Day) with all the head coaches and MVPs from the Sugar Bowl's illustrious history invited back, including NFF Chairman Archie Manning of Ole Miss, 2008 NFF Honorees Billy Cannon (Hall of Fame Inductee from LSU), Don McPherson (Hall of Fame inductee from Syracuse) and Bill Battle (Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award recipient)…

At the Sun Bowl, Craig Silver, the CBS Coordinating Producer of College Football, will join former Texas RB Priest Holmes as the 25th and 26th members of the Legends of the Sun Bowl.…2008 Draddy Trophy winner Alex Mack, who led his Cal Bears squad to a Emerald Bowl win, will be featured during the CBS halftime telecast as the Red Lobster Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The game pits Pittsburgh against Oregon State…

Nobis Represents Texas During 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National HOF Salute

Former Texas LB Tommy Nobis, a member of the 1981 College Football Hall of Fame class, will represent the Longhorns during the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Hall of Fame Salute. The salute recognizes the most recent College Football Hall of Fame inductees during the pregame ceremonies, annual parade and fan fest activities. With the Jan. 5 game pitting No. 10 Ohio State against No. 3 Texas in Glendale, Ariz., 2008 inductee John Cooper will represent the Buckeyes, and Nobis has stepped forward as a symbol for the Longhorns, who lacked representation in 2008 class. The 2008 class members include: Coaches John Cooper and Lou Holtz, who captured a national championship at the Fiesta Bowl with Notre Dame in 1988; Troy Aikman, UCLA; Billy Cannon, LSU; Jim Dombrowski, Virginia; Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern; Wilber Marshall, Florida; Rueben Mayes, Washington State; Randall McDaniel, Arizona State; Don McPherson, Syracuse; Jay Novacek, Wyoming; Dave Parks, Texas Tech; Ron Simmons, Florida State; Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State; and Arnold Tucker, Army.

NFF News, Chapter, Hall of Fame Briefs

Tom Lombardo, captain of Army’s national championship teams in the mid-1940s and namesake of the NFF Tom Lombardo St. Louis Chapter, has been chosen for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Dinner and formal induction will be in Springfield, Mo., on Feb. 7, 2009.

2008 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Pat Fitzgerald will lead his Northwestern wildcats against Missouri in Alamo Bowl tonight on ESPN… Heisman Trophy winner and NFF Hall of Famer Pat Sullivan (Auburn) has received a five-year contract extension as head coach at Samford.

2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Ryan Kees, a defensive end from St. Cloud State (Minn.), has been selected to play in the Valero Cactus Bowl in Kingsville, Texas, an all Division II all-star game to be played on January 9… Other 2008 NFF National Scholar-Athletes in action this week include: QB Chase Daniel, Missouri (Alamo Bowl), QB Graham Harrell (AT&T Cotton Bowl), DT Darryl Richard (Chick-fil-A Bowl), and K/P Louie Sakoda (Allstate Sugar Bowl)…


To become a member of the National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, please contact NFF Director of Special Projects Hillary Jeffries at 800-486-1865 or via email at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.

To become an NFF member, please contact NFF Director of Membership Ron Dilatush at 800-486-1865 or via email at rdilatush@footballfoundation.com. Worldwide membership now is at 12,000-plus in 121 chapters.

For the weekly College Football Insiders newsletter, the NFF's College Football Viewer Guide complete with broadcast teams, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) announcements and more information on the NFF and college football, please visit www.footballfoundation.com.


Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Announcement

Voting has concluded online for the Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year (four NCAA divisions) at www.coachoftheyear.com. The 25 finalists are anticipating Wednesday’s announcement of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year carried live on ESPN at halftime of the Music City Bowl between Boston College and Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. From 2006-08 approximately $680,000 has been donated to the winning coaches’ charities of choice. Head coaching awardees will be announced for NCAA FBS, FCS, Division II, and DIII.

Two-Minute Drill

TCU has won 11 games for the third time in four seasons and four consecutive bowl tests – both school standards… Current Florida Atlantic head coach Howard Schnellenberger, who played and coached for Bear Bryant, has the best bowl winning percentage for any FBS coach with four or more appearances at 1.000 and 6-0… Notre Dame won its first bowl game since the 1993 Cotton Bowl over Texas A&M when the Fighting Irish downed Hawai’i in the Sheraton Aloha Bowl in Honolulu. It also marked the first time that ND players had both their names and numbers on the back of their jerseys since the 1988 Cotton Bowl…

South Carolina athletics has made a $15 million pledge over the next 15 years to provide scholarship funds for deserving families needing financial assistance to send their children to the Columbia, S.C. school…Northwestern visited patients before the Valero Alamo Bowl at Santa Rose Children’s Hospital…The AT&T Cotton Bowl is helping host hospital visits for the 23rd consecutive year at the Children’s Medical Center (Texas Tech) and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (Ole Miss) in Dallas… Before the Humanitarian Bowl, Maryland and Nevada student-athletes participated in a “Bowl for Beef” charity bowling event that benefited Boise’s Meals on Wheels, Maryland’s Prince George’s County Department of Social Services Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Evelyn Mount Food Drive, and Boise’s Life’s Kitchen… Clemson and Nebraska players paid special visits to patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital prior to the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

Rich Ellerson, who guided Cal Poly to some outstanding seasons in recent years, has been named head coach at Army…Michael Haywood has left Notre Dame as offensive coordinator to become head coach at Miami (Ohio)…Russ Huesman is the new head coach at Chattanooga, ……Rob Ambrose has been selected as head coach at Towson…Arizona head coach Mike Stoops had his contract extended through 2013…Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson agreed to a seven-year contract extension…Steve Addazio has been tabbed as new offensive coordinator at Florida. He replaces Dan Mullen, the new head coach at Mississippi State… …Tulsa has elevated coaching staff members Herb Hand to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator, Mike Norvell to receivers coach and passing game coordinator …Golden Hurricane’s former co-offensive coordinator and QB coach Gus Malzahn is becoming offensive coordinator Auburn…

West Virginia QB Pat White became the first player to start at quarterback and win four consecutive bowl games (including BCS bowls after the 2005-07 seasons) and against North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last week. The AFCA Allstate Good Works Team members will be featured during halftime of the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 on Fox Television.

The University Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame has added administrator Jean Cerra, football standout Rick Lyle, student-athlete and later football coach Vince Tobin, and the No. 7 nationally 1941 MU football team which revolutionized football with the Split-T formation to its 2009 class…Eastern Michigan all-time great Charlie Batch has been chose for the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame and will be inducted formally with the Class of 2009…Football standout Greg Wolniec (Class of '01) is the latest inductee into the 2009 Bryant University Sports Hall of Fame.

The Washington Post and The Washington Times will begin sharing some coverage of sports events as a cost-saving measure, and the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram are entering similar agreements for college football and other major events… The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 International Bowl Kickoff Luncheon in Toronto Friday… Utah has established the endowed Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Family Scholarship to honor the former Ute football player. Current Utes’ head coach Kyle Whittingham and former Utah coach Urban Meyer (now at Florida) are two of the initial contributors to the grant… Kent State athletics fundraising is running ahead of its 2007 pace as 2008 closes Thursday.

Coy Bacon, 66, standout at Jackson State from 1965-67 and for five NFL teams and a community leader, died on Dec. 22 in Ironton, Ohio… Anthony Pelini, 85, father of Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and Huskers’ assistant coach Carl Pelini, died last week in Youngstown, Ohio.

Key NFF Dates

Jan. 5, 2009: National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 9, 2009: Presentation of MacArthur Trophy to BCS champion - Miami, Fla.

2009 BCS Schedule

Jan. 1: Rose Bowl presented by Citi -Pasadena, Calif., ABC
Jan. 1: FedEx Orange Bowl - Miami Gardens, Fla., Fox
Jan. 2: Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La., Fox
Jan. 5: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Ariz., Fox
Jan. 8: FedEx BCS National Championship - Miami Gardens, Fla., Fox