2/3: These NFF Honorees Are Smart!

February 03, 2026

Good morning, football fans! The recipient of the 2025-26 NFF Hatchell Cup presented by Bob’s Steak & Chop House, recognizing the top high school football team in the nation for combined excellence in the classroom, on the field, and in the community, will be announced on Thursday!

Patrick Breen/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

These kids are smart! The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame have announced the 95 state winners of the 2025-26 NFF National High School Academic Excellence Awards, Presented by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation!

The initiative honors the top academic football teams from each level of play within each state and is designed to inspire and foster a culture of academic excellence in high school football teams throughout the nation.

Over the weekend, the first of four NFF High School Showcases took place in Houston for academically eligible high school football players to land aid packages to play college football at the divisional level. Organizers in Arizona, Southern California & South Florida will also hold events. These Showcases further enforce the NFF's mission of creating academic and athletic opportunities for football at all levels. For more information, click here.

  • Congratulations to 2025 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee Haloti Ngata (Oregon) on his son, Sam, signing with the Ducks for the 2026 season. A 6-foot-5, 210-pound outside linebacker, Sam continues the Ngata legacy in Eugene.

  • 2025 Campbell Trophy® Finalists Blake Horvath (Navy), Jack Strand (Minnesota State Moorhead), and Robby Ballentine (DePauw [IN]) were named CSC Academic All-America® Players of the Year for NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, respectively. They were joined as First Team CSC Academic All-Americans by fellow Campbell Trophy® Finalists Jonah Coleman (Washington) and Ty Dugger (Harding [AR]), representing Divisions I and II. Campbell Trophy® Finalist Parker Navarro (Ohio) earned Division I Second Team honors. Click here for the full release.

Name: Bo Nix
College: Oregon
Accomplishments: 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy winner

Share your football story with us! We want to know what football means to you, the lessons you learned, and the opportunities it provided.

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, host LaVar Arrington brings us another interview with a member of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame, Minnesota's Greg Eslinger! Greg and LaVar chat about the 2025 Hall of Fame Class, Greg's path to Minnesota and how linemen get the glow up once they step away from the game!

📰: How Football Shaped Christian Colleges
Christianity Today

Clendon Thomas, a 2011 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee who starred at Oklahoma from 1955-57, passed away Jan. 26. He was 90.

Thomas was a key contributor on undefeated, national title-winning teams his sophomore and junior years in 1955 and 1956. Those teams won 47 straight games through the 1957 season, which is still the longest major college football winning streak in history.

Click here to read more about the life and legacy of Thomas.

Phillip Marshall, a longtime chronicler of Auburn athletics, has passed away. He was 76.

Richard Abraham, who played collegiately at Michigan State and also captained MSU’s national championship billiards team in 1952, has passed away. He was 96.

Michael O’Brien, who played collegiately at Miami and UT Martin, has passed away. He was 77.

Mark Marquess, who played both baseball and football at Stanford and later went on to become a nine-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the Cardinal baseball program, has passed away. He was 78.

Regis Woods, who played collegiately at West Virginia, has passed away. He was 82.

Billy Howard, a three-sport athlete at Mississippi State and a longtime supporter of Bulldog athletics, has passed away. He was 99.

Eddie Conyers, who served as the Alabama practice official for more than six decades, has passed away. He was 97.

Frank Pitts, who played collegiately at Southern and played in the first Super Bowl, has passed away. He was 82.

Jordan Allen, who played collegiately at Tennessee, has passed away. He was 27.

Scott Laidlaw, who played collegiately at Stanford and won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys, has passed away. He was 72.

February 5, 2026 — Announcement of 2025-26 Recipient of the NFF Hatchell Cup, Presented by Bob’s Steak & Chop House

December 8, 2026 — 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas at Bellagio Resort & Casino

December 8, 2026 — Announcement of the winner of the 37th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy

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