FWAA Alabama News

The Football Writers Association of America has released a list of top candidates for the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award, Freshman Player of the Year and the 2023 FWAA Freshman All-America Team. The Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Award, presented by Chris Doering Mortgage, goes to the best first-year coach (at his school) in FBS football. The recipients of the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year, the FWAA Freshman of the Year and a Spurrier Legends Coach awardee will be honored at a special reception in Februray in Gainesville, Fla. 

DALLAS (FWAA) – North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye was the toast of Atlantic Coast Conference quarterbacks this season, throwing for 38 touchdowns and leading the league in passing yards (4,321) and total touchdowns (45). For his dynamic efforts that led the Tar Heels (9-5) to the ACC’s Coastal Division title, the Football Writers Association of America awarded him as its Freshman Player of the Year presented by Chris Doering Mortgage.

The 2022 Football Writers Association of America All-America Team, presented in partnership with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, is headlined by nine first-teamers from the four teams competing in the College Football Playoff, three repeat All-Americans and a record 16 total selections from the Big Ten Conference. There are 19 schools represented from six Football Bowl Subdivision conferences on the first team and 34 different schools and eight conferences plus an Independent included on the overall 54-man team.

For the second time in the award’s history, a repeat winner has claimed the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. has once again been chosen as the nation’s top defensive player by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club. The Southeastern Conference leader in sacks and tackles for loss will be honored Tuesday night with the award here.

Four finalists for the 2022 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, one of them last year’s winner, another representing the top team in the current College Football Playoff rankings and two of the nation’s premier defensive linemen were named Wednesday by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club as candidates for the award honoring the nation’s top defensive player. One finalist’s team has already clinched a spot in his conference championship game and another can clinch a spot with a win on Saturday. 

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 5 of the 2022 college football season.

College football fans in Alabama and Texas are already counting down the days until Sept. 10 when the Crimson Tide plays the Longhorns in Austin in a preview of a future Southeastern Conference showdown. For eight sports media students – four from each school – this is a class project of a lifetime, boiling down months of Google tracking and Zoom calls into eight hours of fast-paced, locally produced game day coverage. It will be the first of this kind of collaboration by any two university sports media programs in the country.

Linebacker leads Crimson Tide's surge to Playoff's top seed

Three defensive standouts will vie for National Defensive Player of the Year honors

Six standout interior linemen tabbed by FWAA

Sophomore linebacker has four sacks in drubbing of Mississippi State