Football’s Sam Howard Named to the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List

DALLAS – Tulane senior linebacker Sam Howard was not too long ago named to the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).

The listing incorporates gamers from 41 totally different colleges in eight Division I FBS conferences plus independents. By place, the listing contains 21 linebackers, 11 defensive ends/edge rushers, 10 cornerbacks, 10 defensive tackles and eight safeties. A complete of 60 gamers nationally had been named to the preseason watch listing this season. The trophy is given yearly to the National Defensive Player of the Year.

Howard performed and began 13 video games at linebacker final season for Tulane in his first 12 months with this system. He set a faculty document with 5 fumble recoveries whereas totaling 63 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception. He was a 2024 Second Team All-AAC choice.

The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce the finalists for the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy in mid-to-late November, and the winner shall be revealed on the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 8 in Charlotte, N.C.

Players could also be added or faraway from the watch listing in the course of the course of the season. As in earlier years, the FWAA will announce a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week every Tuesday in the course of the season.

The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting enter from the affiliation’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and ultimately the Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists. Committee members, by particular person poll, choose the winner they regard as the very best defensive participant in faculty soccer.

The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way participant from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated faculty soccer, then turned a star for skilled soccer’s Chicago Bears within the Nineteen Thirties. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a constitution member of each the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses faculty soccer’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored greater than 950 recipients since 1935.

Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week interval because the affiliation spearheads a coordinated effort to advertise every award’s preseason candidates.

Following is the remaining 2025 preseason watch listing calendar:

Tue., July 29: Outland Trophy

Wed., July 30: Paycom Jim Thorpe Award/Butkus Award

Thu., July 31: Paul Hornung Award/Allstate Wuerffel Trophy

Fri., Aug. 1: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award

Mon., Aug. 4: Walter Camp Award

Tue., Aug. 5: Doak Walker Award

Wed., Aug. 6: Biletnikoff Award

Thu., Aug. 7: Davey O’Brien Award

Fri., Aug. 8: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy

Mon., Aug. 11: Bednarik Award

For extra details about the NCFAA and its award applications, go to NCFAA.org or observe on X at @NCFAA.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit group based in 1990 for the aim of selling highschool, collegiate, {and professional} soccer within the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Since its inception, the membership has grown in addition to diversified boasting a sponsor crew of greater than (80) firms. The Club’s actions and companies focus group consideration on the excellent Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of space athletes and coaches. Through particular person and company help, greater than $3,000,000 has been raised and donated to learn the Touchdown Club’s scholarship efforts.

Coca-Cola Consolidated is the biggest Coca-Cola bottler within the United States. Our function is to honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence and to develop profitably. For over 121 years, we’ve got been deeply dedicated to the shoppers, clients and communities we serve and passionate in regards to the broad portfolio of drinks and companies we provide.

We make, promote and distribute drinks of The Coca-Cola Company and different companion firms in additional than 300 manufacturers and flavors throughout 14 states and the District of Columbia, to roughly 60 million shoppers. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Coca-Cola Consolidated is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market beneath the image “COKE”. More details about the Company is obtainable at www.cokeconsolidated.com. Follow Coca-Cola Consolidated on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 women and men who cowl faculty soccer. The membership contains journalists, broadcasters and publicists, in addition to key executives in all of the areas that contain the sport. The FWAA works to control areas that embrace game-day operations, main awards and its annual All-America crew.

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The Tulane soccer crew (9-5) ended the 2024 season enjoying in this system’s third consecutive bowl recreation. It was additionally the sixth time within the final seven years that Tulane had been chosen to play in a bowl recreation (2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 – Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl). Overall, it was Tulane’s seventeenth bowl look (1932 – Rose Bowl, 1935 – Sugar Bowl, 1939 – Sugar Bowl, 1970 – Liberty Bowl, 1973 – Astro Bluebonnet Bowl, 1979 – Liberty Bowl, 1980 – Hall of Fame Bowl, 1987 – Independence Bowl, 1998 – Liberty Bowl, 2002 – Hawaii Bowl, 2013 – New Orleans, 2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 -Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl) with this system sporting an all-time document of 7-10 in bowl video games.

Tulane additionally made the crew’s third straight AAC Championship Game look. The program sports activities a 32-10 document during the last three seasons. The crew’s 32 wins is the fourth-most nationally. The crew positioned first or second within the AAC in 10 totally different classes together with main the league in third down conversions (52.5), defensive touchdowns (6), completion proportion (65.6), scoring offense (37.2) and passing effectivity protection (111.65). The crew was the nationwide chief in defensive touchdowns with six.

The crew had a league-high 18 gamers chosen All-AAC final season together with 2025 returners Derrick Graham (First Team – offensive sort out), Shadre Hurst (First Team – offensive guard), Sam Howard (Second Team – linebacker), Bailey Despanie (Second Team – defensive again) and Kameron Hamilton (Third Team – line of defense)

The Green Wave’s soccer crew was chosen for third within the 2024 AAC Preseason Media Poll with 362 factors plus two first-place votes on the annual convention media day.

The faculty introduced the hiring of Jon Sumrall because the forty second head coach of the crew on December 8, 2023. The Huntsville, Alabama native has been probably the most profitable head coaches within the nation the final three seasons with a document of 32-9, two Sun Belt Conference championships and a pair of double-digit successful streaks. He was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of Year and was twice named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year honor. Sumrall returned to Tulane after serving because the Green Wave’s Co-Defensive Coordinator for 3 years (2012-14). In 2013, he was an important a part of Tulane’s run to the New Orleans Bowl, this system’s first postseason look since 2002 and third since 1988. Sumrall additionally was named a finalist for FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year.

TICKETS

Tickets for the upcoming soccer and volleyball seasons will be bought by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket workplace on the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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