Six NFF National Scholar-Athletes Head to Bowl Games

Six members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments, will participate in the 2011-12 bowl season.

NFF NATIONAL SCHOLAR-ATHLETES IN BOWL GAMES

• Dec. 27, Little Caesars Bowl - Joe Holland (Purdue) vs. Western Michigan (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Dec. 31, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas - Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M) vs. Northwestern (12 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Jan. 2, Outback Bowl - Drew Butler (Georgia) vs. Kirk Cousins (Michigan State) (1 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Jan. 6, AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic - Tysyn Hartman (Kansas State) vs. Arkansas (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
• Jan. 8, GoDaddy.com Bowl - Chandler Harnish (Northern Illinois) vs. Arkansas State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)

To read the full release, please click here.

Purchase the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Program

Paying tribute to the exceptional individuals honored by the National Football Foundation in 2011, the 184-page publication features tons of color photos and feature stories on each honoree. A highly collectable publication, the exclusive program was first distributed to the sellout crowd at the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, which took placed December 6 at the famed Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. Only a limited number of extra copies remain, and they can be obtained by sending a check for $20, plus $4.75 for shipping and handling to:

NFF Annual Awards Dinner Program
433 Las Colinas Blvd.
Suite 1130
Irving, TX 75039

To read the full release and see a sample page, please click here.

Allstate Sugar Bowl to Host the 7th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute

The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced that the Allstate Sugar Bowl will host the 7th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute. The event will honor the newest class of College Football Hall of Fame inductees on the field during the pregame festivities of the BCS match-up between the No. 13 Michigan Wolverines (10-2) and the No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies (11-2). The game is set to kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on January 3, 2012 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.

To read the full release, please click here.

TIME OUT: Holding Officials Accountable

EXCLUSIVELY to Monday's Chalktalk, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, provides insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.

Football officials are called upon to make quick decisions in a fast-moving and intense environment. Because they are the arbiters in a highly competitive sport, their skill and judgment are routinely called into question. Fans and coaches often ask, are officials held accountable for their work and, if so, how? The short answer to the first is "Yes"; in this article we will look at the evaluation of officials and its role in their careers.

Evaluation of officials is done principally through live observation at games and graded review of game video. Each conference organizes this assessment somewhat differently, but all typically have at least this much in common: every official is evaluated in every game by an observer on the scene and by two or more video graders. The observer and the video graders are typically retired officials who the conferences hire for evaluation of the officials. They look at every official on every play, typically using the TV copy of the game as well as the institution's "coaches cuts" which have a sideline shot and end zone shot of each play. These three views allow the grader to assess the official's appearance, initial position, movement, mechanics, judgment and knowledge of the rules as indicated by when he throws the flag and whether he enforces penalties correctly.

The results are communicated to the official and the conference coordinator each week as a key part of an official's formative evaluation. This weekly grade goes into the coordinator's decision as to whether an official will be assigned a postseason game and whether he will continue on the officiating staff the following season.

Officials are also tested on their detailed knowledge of the rules. Each official takes a national rules test late in the summer. The conferences also administer tests at their annual summer clinics. Weekly tests throughout the season serve to keep the officials' skills sharp as well as providing the coordinator an on-going picture of the extent to which they are continuing to study and train.

After the season is over the conferences conduct an in-depth summative evaluation of each official to determine the final season grade and who will be invited back to continue officiating the next season.

THE BLITZ

The Chick-fil-A Bowl announced an elevated partnership with the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award last week. The honor will now be known as the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award presented by Chick-fil-A Bowl.

College Football Hall of Fame coach Roger Harring was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-time coach last week.

The Wall Street Journal published a story highlighting the influence of College Football Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry on the coaching community last week.

College Football Hall of Famer Dick Modzelewski (Maryland) was selected to the Southern Conference Hall of Fame last week.

2000 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Drew Brees (Purdue) set the NFL single-season passing yardage record on Monday night, breaking the record previously held by College Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (Pittsburgh).

Campbell Trophy semifinalist Luke Tribble of Harding University (AR) is the NFF's Scholar-Athlete of the Day, presented by Fidelity Investments. Check daily at FootballFoundation.org to see which Campbell Trophy candidate is the Scholar-Athlete of the Day.

This Week in College Football History, Week of Dec. 26: College Football Hall of Fame coach Lloyd Carr guided Michigan to a victory in the 1998 Rose Bowl, clinching the school's first national championship in half a century. To see video of this game and read the full entry, please click here.

The FBS television schedule, including broadcast teams, will be posted this Thursday on the NFF website, www.footballfoundation.org.

You can keep up with the NFF on Twitter at Twitter.com/NFFNetwork and on Facebook.

Stay involved with the game. Become an NFF member here.

OVER THE MIDDLE

The NFF National Capital Chapter will hold its third annual Clinic of Champions for football coaches on Jan. 16. . . . Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly will be the featured speaker at the NFF Toledo (Ohio) Chapter scholar-athlete banquet on March 12. . . . The NFF Minnesota Chapter is now on Twitter. . . . Former San Diego State and NFL defensive lineman La'Roi Glover, currently the director of player programs for the St. Louis Rams, will be the guest speaker at the NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter's January 18th luncheon. . . . Washington State athletics director Bill Moos will be the guest speaker at the NFF Clark County (WA) Chapter scholar-athlete banquet January 18. . . . The NFF Westchester County Chapter will host its 39th annual scholar-athlete banquet January 26 in Rye, N.Y. . . . The NFF Michigan Chapter presented Ferris State senior quarterback Tom Schneider its Morley Fraser Award last week. . . . Curry College (MA) football coach Skip Bandini will receive the 2012 Ron Burton Distinguished American Award from the NFF Jack Grinold/Eastern Massachusetts Chapter on May 14 in Randolph, Mass.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Scheduling

Notre Dame will host Rice in 2014. . . . The Mountain West Conference will send a team to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in 2012 and 2013, ESPN has announced. . . . Texas A&M will open the 2012 season at home versus McNeese State.

Media

Rutgers player Eric LeGrand appeared on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated. His return to the field was voted the sports moment of the year by SI's readership. . . . The Chick-fil-A Bowl has announced a new mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.

People

Notre Dame recently released its second volume of "Strong of Heart: Profiles of Notre Dame Athletics 2011." It chronicles the individual stories of student-athletes, educator-coaches, administrators and supporters of Notre Dame athletics. The NFF Salutes Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick and Associate AD John Heisler for promoting the good and the positive that comes from college athletics.

Purdue head coach Danny Hope has received a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2016 season.

Community Service

Several Louisiana Tech football players donated their bowl gifts from the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl to children from the San Diego-area Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Bowl Games

The Dec. 30 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will feature the 36th Infantry Division Band out of Austin, Texas. . . . Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads, who will be facing off in the Dec. 30 New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, will ring the New York Stock Exchange opening bell on Dec. 29. The teams will visit the 9/11 Memorial on Wednesday.

Facilities

Washington State has announced the largest gift in the history of Cougars athletics, donated by alumnus Greg Rankich, a $3 million gift for improvements to Martin Stadium. . . . TCU has begun the second round of renovations on Amon Carter Stadium. . . . Virginia head coach Mike London has pledged $225,000 toward the construction of the school's new indoor practice facility. . . . Rice president David Leebron and athletics director Rick Greenspan will host a town hall meeting to discuss plans to raise funding for football facilities on Jan. 19.

Miscellaneous

The FCS National Championship Game in Frisco, Texas (located North of Dallas), has sold out. Over 25,000 are expected at Pizza Hut Park while extra bleachers and standing room only tickets have been added to accommodate the expected overflow crowd. Both No. 1 Sam Houston State and No. 2 North Dakota State have sold out their allotments of 4,000+ tickets and have requested additional tickets. . . . Kansas State has sold out its special season tickets packages for 2012. . . . Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich has been named the Northern Arizona University Dwight Patterson Alumnus of the Year. . . . Northwestern and Under Armour have announced a multi-year partnership. . . . AFCA will hold its 89th annual convention at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center January 8-11 in San Antonio, Texas. More than 6,000 coaches are anticipated. Speakers include College Football Hall of Fame coaches Lloyd Carr (Michigan) and Tubby Raymond (Delaware). The NFF will present its divisional trophies at the event. . . . 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Yaser Elqutub (Northwestern State) has been selected Central Louisiana Sportsman of the Year.

Obituaries

Former Clemson All-American safety Jackie Calvert passed away Saturday, December 18. He was 82. . . . Texas A&M offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio passed away Thursday, December 22. He was 22. . . . Former Arkansas State and Tulane head coach Bennie Ellender passed away Friday, December 23. He was 86.

2012 Key NFF Dates

Jan. 3, 2012 - National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La. (ESPN)

Jan. 7, 2012 - FCS National Championship Game - Frisco, Texas (ESPN)

Jan. 9, 2012 - Announcement of Liberty Mutual Coaches of the Year - New Orleans, La.

Jan. 9, 2012 - Allstate BCS National Championship Game - New Orleans, La. (ESPN)

Jan. 10, 2012 - Presentation of the NFF's MacArthur Bowl - New Orleans, La.

Dec. 4, 2012 - 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner

NFF Information

Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key decision makers in football including key administrators, coaches, players, former players, as well as other key sports business executives throughout the year. To inquire about the print advertising opportunities available to your organization, please contact Bret Krift with IMG College at 859-226-4406 or bret.krift@imgworld.com.

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Sign up for "This Week in NCAA Football" at ncaafootball.com.

The 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, at New York City's Waldorf=Astoria. For more ticket information, please contact NFF Director of National Events Will Rudd at 1-800-486-1865 or via email at wrudd@footballfoundation.com.

Notes

The NFF would like to thank correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.

NFF Chalktalk items are welcome, and should be submitted to news@footballfoundation.com.