Clemson Football: Sheridan Jones named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy
By John Chancey
Clemson Football cornerback Sheridan Jones has been named as a semi-finalist for the 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy.
Jones is a super senior graduate student at Clemson. He was a member of the Class of 2019 and is in his fifth season with the Tigers.
The William V. Campbell Trophy is awarded annually by the National Football Foundation to the college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance.
The award was founded in 1990 and is named after Bill Campbell, a player and coach at Columbia University before joining the Columbia Board of Trustees and working for companies like Intuit and Apple.
The award allows players from all divisions to qualify, not just Division I. The 2002 winner was Brandon Roberts from Division III Washington University in St. Louis.
Christian Wilkins is the only player to have won the Campbell Trophy, which he received in 2018. Florida has the most winners with three.
201 semifinalists were named this year. The previous record was 199 in 2000. The average GPA of the semifinalists is 3.65, and over half already have undergraduate degrees.
Clemson Football selected Sheridan Jones as their lone nominee for the Campbell Trophy
Archie Manning, who played at Ole Miss and for the New Orleans Saints, is the chairman of the NFF. He is the father of 1997 winner Peyton Manning and grandfather of current Texas quarterback Arch Manning.
"“These 201 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal. During the past seven decades, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards have recognized 906 college football players who excelled as the best our great sport has to offer. This year’s semifinalists build on the tradition, further illustrating the power of football to develop the next generation of influential leaders.”"
Each school can nominate one player for the award. The group will be pared down to 12-14 finalists in October.
Other notable semifinalists include:
- Ladd McConkey, Georgia
- Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
- Bo Nix, Oregon
- Garrett Schrader, Syracuse
- Kai Kroeger, South Carolina