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54th Annual Awards Dinner Invitations To Be Mailed This Week

Invitations to the National Football Foundation's (NFF) 54th Annual Awards Dinner, scheduled for Dec. 6 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City, are being mailed this week to all head football coaches and athletics directors in FBS and FCS as well as bowl representatives, conference commissioners and past dinner attendees. The dinner is open to the public, for ticket information please contact NFF director of national events Will Rudd at 1-800-486-1865 or wrudd@footballfoundation.com. The event will once again honor the NFF's Major Awards winners, induct the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Class, and award the William V. Campbell Trophy.

NFF News

2010 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Scott Tolzien (Wisconsin) and Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan were among the Big Ten Conference's 22 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners.

College Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno will be a subject on Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno & Krzyzewski, airing June 30 on ESPN.

2010 NFF National Scholar-Athletes Ben Chappell (Indiana) and Stefen Wisniewski (Penn State), 2010 William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalists Kyle Adams (Purdue) and Julian Vandervelde (Iowa), along with Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi, were among the Big Ten Conference's 2011 Medal of Honor winners.

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons launched Grantland.com on Wednesday, named in honor of NFF tri-founder Grantland Rice.

College Football Hall of Famers Andre Ware (Houston), Charlie Krueger (Texas A&M), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Bubba Smith (Michigan State) and former NFF National Scholar-Athlete Don Trull (Baylor) are among the 2011 nominees for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Also dotting the ballot are Texas head coach Mack Brown, former Houston and New Mexico athletics director Rudy Davalos, former SMU All-American Louie Kelcher, longtime high school football coaches G.A. Moore and Eddy Peach, former Tulsa player and current Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith, former Texas Tech All-American Zach Thomas, former Texas player Marty Akins, former Texas Tech athletics director Gerald Myers, former Texas A&I football player Karl Douglas, former Howard Payne (Tex.) football player Ken Gray, former Texas A&M football player Charlie Milstead and former Rice player Tobin Rote.

College Football Hall of Famer and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, along with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough, were the keynote speakers at the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assualt's Victory Over Violence party on Thursday, June 9.

College Football Hall of Famer Terry Donahue (UCLA) was among a host of former UCLA football players in attendance at a memorial service for former UCLA assistant coach Homer Smith, who passed away April 10 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In addition to his three stints as a Bruins assistant, Smith also served as an assistant coach at Stanford, Alabama and Arizona and as the head coach at Army and Pacific.

New football programs Mercer and Stetson will join the Pioneer Football League in 2013, the league announced Monday.

The NFF is auctioning a signed helmet of 2010 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Desmond Howard (Michigan) here. Bidding remains open until Thursday, June 16.

Abilene Christian (Tex.) and Hobart College (N.Y.) have joined the NFF as Institutional Academic Members.

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

Chapter News

NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter president Gerald Brence blogged about the 74th Oil Bowl high school all-star game between Texas and Oklahoma, won by Texas 17-14 in overtime. . . . The NFF Joe Tiller/Northwest Indiana Chapter banquet will take place on June 16 at Purdue Memorial Union. . . . The NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter will host a golf tournament fundraiser on July 17th at the Columbia Golf Club. . . . Former NFF Albany (N.Y.) Chapter president Brent Steuerwald graces the cover of the latest issue of American Football Monthly.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Scheduling

The Bowl Championship Series has set its 2012 schedule: the BCS National Championship presented by Allstate will be played on Jan. 9 in New Orleans, the Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO will take place on Jan. 2, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be played on Jan. 3, the Discover Orange Bowl will be on Jan. 4 and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be played on Jan. 5. . . . Hawai'i will host South Alabama on Dec. 1, 2012. . . . Texas State has announced its 2012 schedule, the program's first in FBS as a WAC member. The slate includes home dates with Texas Tech and Nevada.

Media

Conference USA has released its 2011 broadcast schedule. . . . The Sun Belt has announced six ESPN3 broadcasts. . . . WAC Sports Network has announced its 2011 broadcast schedule. . . . ESPN has announced seven additional Big Ten selections. . . . BTN will air 15 games on the first three weekends of the 2011 season. . . . Fox Sports Net will televise Memphis at Mississippi State at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 1 and Mississippi State at UAB at noon ET on Oct. 8. . . . ESPN2 will show BYU at Hawai'i at 8:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 3. . . . The New Mexico Bowl will be broadcast by ESPN at 2 p.m. ET on Dec. 17. . . . KWWL-TV was awarded first place by the Iowa Broadcast News Association in the Sports Play-by-Play category for the Northern Iowa vs. Illinois State football game. . . . The Southland Network's entry of the 2010 Stephen F. Austin vs. Sam Houston State football game, earned honorable mention in the category of Professional Live Event at the College Sports Video Conference. . . . Shayvision, a film chronicling the life of former Colorado football player Shay Davis, premiered Wednesday night in Denver.

Community Service

Football player John Plasenia was among a group of Northwestern student-athletes that addressed Galapagos Charter School on the virtues of college education on Friday, June 3. . . . Former Alabama players Javier Arenas, Mike Johnson and John Parker Wilson signed autographs and snapped photos with fans last week in Huntsville, Ala., as a fundraiser for the Bama Rising Fund for tornado recovery. . . . SMU head coach June Jones leads a goodwill mission to American Samoa this week. . . . Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart, head coach Joker Phillips and football players Stuart Hines and Danny Trevathan were among a group that recently returned from a weeklong service trip to Ethiopia. . . . Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano will host the Fifth Annual Greg Schiano Charity Golf Classic on Monday, June 20 in Bedminster Township, N.J. Proceeds will benefit the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund and Athletes in Action.

Facilites

Fresno State will install FieldTurf at Bulldog Stadium for the 2011 season. . . . Buffalo has unveiled the Brinkworth/McNally Football Alumni Team Meeting Room at UB Stadium, named in honor of former Bulls football players Kevin Brinkworth and Jim McNally. . . . Iowa State will construct a new football training facility, expected to complete by fall 2012.

Miscellaneous

Tennessee has named Joan Cronan its interim athletics director. . . . . Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher has signed a two-year contract extension. . . . Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson signed a contract extension through June 30, 2015. . . . Colorado athletics director Mike Bohn has signed a contract extension to remain at the school through 2016. . . . Former Delaware athletics director Edgar Johnson has been inducted into the UD Wall of Fame. . . . Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer will be a featured speaker at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Convention, which begins Thursday, June 16 in Orlando, Fla. . . . 2010 national champions Auburn visited President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday. . . . Purdue students have voted to named the student section at Ross-Ade Stadium the "Ross-Ade Brigade". . . . Cowboys Classic, played Sept. 3 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex., between LSU and Oregon, has sold out. . . . The Allstate Sugar Bowl has unveiled the logo for the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game. . . . The Pac-12 is now affiliated with the New Mexico Bowl. The No. 7 Pac-12 team will face a Mountain West Conference foe on Dec. 17 in Albuquerque, N.M. . . . Michigan and Notre Dame have unveiled throwback uniforms for the two squads' clash on Sept. 10. . . .

Obituaries

Longtime Oklahoma faculty representative Dan Gibbens passed away Sunday, June 5. He was 78. . . . Former Florida player Godfrey Myles passed away Thursday, June 9, at 42. . . . Former Princeton player Jack Bales passed away Friday, June 3. He was 100. . . . Former Cincinnati player Tom O'Malley passed away Saturday, June 11. He was 85.

2011 Key NFF Dates

July 15-16, 2011 - College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival - South Bend, Ind.

Sept. 29, 2011 - Announcement of the 2011 Campbell Trophy Semifinalists - Irving, Texas

Oct. 27, 2011 - Announcement of the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class/Campbell Trophy Finalists - Irving, Texas

Dec. 6, 2011 - The 54th Annual Awards News Conference at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.

Dec. 6, 2011 - The 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.

Dec. 6, 2011 - The 22nd Presentation of Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, to the nation's top scholar-athlete at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.

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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The 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, 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.