New Orleans, La. – Sam Ehlinger quarterback for the University of Texas, Trevor Lawrence quarterback for Clemson University and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah linebacker for Notre Dame have been named finalists for the Bobby Bowden Trophy. The award will be presented on January 15, 2021. The breakfast will be held at the University Club on the Florida State University campus. For more information view the website at TheBobbyBowdenAward.org.

The Bobby Bowden Trophy recognizes the College Football Playoff player who epitomizes a student-athlete of faith. He must conduct himself as an exemplary model in the classroom, on the field, on the campus and in the community.

The award is named after former Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden. Bobby Bowden finished 34 years as head coach at Florida State and 44 years coaching overall. He has 411 wins as a head coach. While at Florida State he guided the Seminoles to 14 straight top five finishes in the AP poll from 1987 to 2000. During the Seminoles run, Florida State’s record was 152-18-1 and captured national championships in 1993 and 1999. In 1999, the team became the first and only squad to ever go wire-to-wire as the Number 1 team in the AP poll. With his invitation to the Music City Bowl in 2007, Bowden passed Tom Osborne to become the first coach in college football history to lead his team to 26 straight bowl games. He is the only coach to ever lead his team to 15 consecutive New Year’s Day bowl games (1991 - 2005) and his are tied for the most appearances in BCS bowl games with six. He is the only coach in NCAA history to win 11 consecutive bowl games (1985 - 1995) and the only coach ever with 14 consecutive bowl appearances (1982 - 1995) without a loss.

The award was conceived by Vince Gibson, a former Bowden assistant at South Georgia State College who went on to become head coach at Kansas State, Louisville, and Tulane before he passed away in 2012 from ALS; and Vernon Brinson, one of Bowden’s former football players at South Georgia State College and the University of Georgia baseball team in the 1950s.

Past Bowden Trophy winners are:

2003: Jason Wright, Northwestern University

2004: Billy Bajema, Oklahoma State University

2005: D.J. Shockley, University of Georgia

2006: Carl Pendleton, University of Oklahoma

2007: Jacob Tamme, University of Kentucky

2008: Stephen McGee, Texas A&M

2009: Colt McCoy, University of Texas

2010: Christian Ponder, Florida State University

2011: Case Keenum, University of Houston

2012: Ashton Richardson, Auburn University

2013: Jake Matthews, Texas A&M

2014: Bryce Petty, Baylor University

2015: Ty Darlington, University of Oklahoma

2016: Deshaun Watson, Clemson University

2017: Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State University

2018: Hunter Renfrow, Clemson University

2019: Tua Tagovailoa, University of Alabama