Jeffcoat named to 2013 Bednarik Award Watch List
Texas Longhorns senior defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat has been named to the watch list for the 2013 Chuck Bednarik Award honoring the college defensive player of the year, the Maxwell Football Club has announced.
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the nation's top defensive player since 1995. A former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chuck Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '69 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of '67.
Former Longhorns DE Sam Acho was a semifinalist for the 2010 Bednarik Award and LB Derrick Johnsonwas a semifinalist in 2004. Jeffcoat was also named to the Bednarik watch list in 2012.
Jeffcoat (who has already been named to the CFPA Defensive Awards Watch List) is a fourth-year defensive lineman who has appeared in 27 games with 20 starts, and has posted at least one sack in 10 of his last 13 games with 12 over that span. He was sidelined for the final seven games of 2012 after suffering a right pectoral muscle rupture vs. Oklahoma.
For his career, Jeffcoat has made 117 tackles (59 solo), 14.5 sacks, 38 TFL, 22 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and five pass break ups. He was named to the 2012 Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award and CFPA Defensive Lineman of the Year Trophy watch lists. He was named a 2011 second team All-Big 12 selection (Coaches, AP, Kansas City Star, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) and was tabbed honorable mention Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2010.
Jeffcoat was a prep All-American, two-time first-team all-state and all-area and three-time first-team all-district selection at defensive end for Plano West High School. He was named to PARADE's All-America High School Football Team, earned first-team All-USA honors by USA Today and was an EA SPORTS All-American first-team selection. He was selected to play in the 2010 Army All-American Bowl, was a member of Rivals' top 100 and ESPNU's top 150 national prospects and was ranked as the best defensive end and second-best overall prospect by ESPNU and the best strongside defensive end and 12th-best overall prospect by Rivals. He was also rated as the state's best defensive end by Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Jeffcoat’s father, Jim, was a standout defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys (1983-94) and Buffalo Bills (1995-97) and is the current assistant coach/defensive line coach at The University of Colorado.
Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced Oct. 29, while the three finalists will be unveiledNov. 25th. The winner of the 2013 Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 12th. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah's Entertainment Atlantic City on March 7, 2014.
The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club's selection committee, which analyzes both past performance and future potential. The Club reserves the right to make additions and deletions to these lists as the 2013 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA sports information directors, FBS head coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for the awards.
The Chuck Bednarik Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.
