D1 College Football News

August 4 , 2008

Source: The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.


NFF Launches National Scholar- Athlete Alumni Association

Archie Manning, chairman of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc. (NFF), announced the inception of the organization's National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, teaming up the nearly 700 college scholar-athletes the Foundation has honored for the past five decades.

The National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association is the latest initiative in an aggressive NFF campaign to further promote the scholar-athlete ideal, offering former honorees the chance to give back. Established in 1959 with funding provided by NFF tri-founder Col. Earl "Red" Blaik, the NFF's National Scholar-Athlete Awards program became the first initiative in history to credit a player for his combined academic success, football performance and community leadership. Each year, the NFF distributes nearly $300,000 to the 15 members of the National Scholar-Athlete Class. The nation's top scholar- athlete receives a prestigious $25,000 scholarship and is awarded the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth.

The newest members to join include: Derrick Brooks (Florida State); College Football Hall of Fame nominee Rich Diana (Yale); Tom Gilmore (Pennsylvania); Thomas Gottwald (Virginia Military Institute); Patrick Haden (Southern California); Randall Hall (Alabama); Robert Johnson (Tennessee); Danny Kanell (Florida State); Jeffrey Lewis (Georgia); Oliver Luck (West Virginia); 1992 College Football Hall of Fame inductee James Lynch (Notre Dame); Michael Mauck (Tennessee); William Obremskey (Duke); 1980 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Merlin Olsen (Utah State); Lance Pavlas (Texas A&M); John Sande (Stanford); Willie Thompson (Morgan State);and Charles Thomson (Indiana).

NFF News

The NFF Chapter Network, spread across 121 outposts in 47 states, distributed nearly $1 million in scholarships during its Jan.-June banquet season, driving the all-time disbursement amount to $13 million. Over 3,000 high school student- athletes from more than 4,800 high schools were honored for both their academic and gridiron achievements in 2008.

Serving as the pulse of a nationwide effort to encourage leadership, sportsmanship and academic excellence among young football players, the chapters collectively stage more than 1,000 events, including coaching clinics, all-star games, leadership conferences, college nights and more than 100 scholarship banquets each year.

Among those recently reported to have attended chapter banquets around the country were Sewanee coach Robert Black (Middle Tennessee Chapter); Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy (Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter); BYU AD Tom Holmoe (Utah Chapter); BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall (Utah Chapter); LSU coach Les Miles (Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter); Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops (Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter); Houston coach Kevin Sumlin (Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter); and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham (Utah Chapter).

Former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr will speak at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., on Aug. 6 as part of the 12th annual KeyBank Gridiron Legend Luncheon Series. From 1995-2007, Coach Carr led the Wolverines to a 122-40 record, five Big Ten Championships and a national championship in 1997.

Two-Minute Drill

Friday, Aug. 29, has been designated as National College Colors Day, encouraging football fans nationwide to wear their college's colors all day... Kentucky held its annual Kroger UK Kickoff Luncheon last Friday in Lexington, and the Wildcats placed a limited number of single-game tickets on sale for four of their seven home encounters... South Carolina notched its eighth consecutive sellout of football season tickets last week... Utah has passed 27,000 season ticket sales and has placed limited single-game ducats on sale for '08. The Utes also will play Notre Dame in 2010... Oregon State will wear newly designed Nike game jerseys this fall... Texas began the "Texas Fans Make Us Proud" initiative for 2008-09 to promote sportsmanship... New Mexico and the New Mexico Bowl hosted NCAA Football Youth Day, a clinic free to children under 14... Washington State head coach Paul Wulff (Seattle) and Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio (Detroit) recently delivered ceremonial first pitches at Major League Baseball contests... Rapper Snoop Dogg joined LSU head coach Les Miles to a recent Rotary Club meeting... Virginia football player Jared Green gave the presentation speech for his father Darrell Green, a 2004 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from then- Texas A&I, at last week's Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies in Canton, Ohio... The Emerald Bowl hosted the Bay Area College Football Luncheon/Media Day on July 28, and featured San Jose State's Dick Tomey, Cal's Jeff Tedford and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh... The Big Ten and the MAC will combine their instant replay systems this season.

Tennessee will name its new Letter Winners Center at Neyland Stadium in honor of 1981 College Football Hall of Fame inductee TB Hank Lauricella and his wife, Betty. The center will be called The Lauricella Center for Letter Winners and is scheduled for completion this month... A Houston architectural group has been retained to design major upgrades for Lamar's football facilities as the school resumes grid play... Omar Heins has bequeathed $1.1 million to New Mexico athletics... Tulane is coming off its most successful athletics year in total outside fund raising... Tulsa totaled a school-record $2.43 million in athletics funds raised for 2007-08.

Florida Atlantic extended the contract of veteran head coach Howard Schnellenberger through the 2010 season... Dave Hart was hired by Alabama as its executive director of athletics.

AirTran Airways and Georgia Tech have forged a travel partnership for 2008 football... Oregon announced a collaboration with IMG Communications... Louisiana Tech has signed a 10-year broadcast and marketing agreement with Learfield Sports.

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) has honored two of its most- decorated members by naming scholarships in their honor. The Fred Nuesch-Dave Wohlhueter Undergraduate Scholarships will be awarded to two students working in sports information offices at member institutions. The scholarships were initiated in 1999 as part of a continuing effort to assist students interested in pursuing a career in sports information. Nuesch (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and Wohlhueter (Cornell) are both members of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame... Bruno Pauletto, Tennessee's first strength coach from 1981-93, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Strength and Conditioning Association... The John Mackey Award for college football's top tight end released its preseason watch list of 30 student-athletes last week... The Wuerffel Trophy added two directors to it National Selection Committee, ESPN's Rece Davis and CBS Sports' Spencer Tillman.

John Mark Stallings, son of former Alabama coach Gene Stallings, died last Saturday. He was 46... Skip Caray, 68, nationally renowned sportscaster and former color commentator for Missouri football, died in Atlanta yesterday... Former Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) AD and football coach Paul Reardon passed away on July 30... Former Notre Dame defensive line coach Joe Yonto, 83, died this morning in South Bend.