AFCA National Championship Trophy

The AFCA National Championship Trophy (also known as the Coaches' Trophy) is the trophy awarded annually by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) to the NCAA Division I FBS college football national champion as determined by the Coaches' Poll. The trophy has been presented since 1986 and was contractually given to the winner of the BCS National Championship Game and its predecessors from 1992 to 2013. It will continue to be awarded to the No. 1 ranked team in the final poll of the season.[1]

AFCA National Championship Trophy
Given forCoaches' Poll national champion (1986present)
Winner of BCS National Championship Game (19982013)
Winner of Bowl Alliance (19951997)
Winner of Bowl Coalition (19921994)
CountryUnited States
Presented byAmerican Football Coaches Association
History
First award1986
(retroactively available to No. 1 Coaches' Poll teams)
Most recentAlabama
Websitewww.afca.com

Patrick and Michael Gerrits came up with the idea for a college football trophy to be awarded to the AFCA national champions along with an academic scholarship award to a non-athlete. The intent was to honor the memory of the patriarch of the Gerrits family, Edward J. Gerrits. The trophy consists of a Waterford Crystal football[2] affixed to an ebony base, and carries a value of over $30,000. The winning school retains permanent possession of the trophy, as a new one is awarded every year. The football portion of the trophy weighs approximately eight pounds and together with the stand, it weighs about 45 pounds (20 kg) and stands 34 inches (86 cm) tall. It is handmade by master craftspeople at Waterford Crystal and reportedly takes nearly three months to complete.[2][3]

The trophy has undergone several sponsorship changes over the years. It was sponsored by the Gerrits Foundation during the initial 1986 and 1987 seasons and, through the Gerrits' family Pepsi bottling business, Pepsi became a co-sponsor with the Gerrits Foundation in 1988 and 1989. McDonald's was the sole sponsor from 1990 to 1992. Sears began its sponsorship in 1993 and remained until 2001. Circuit City assumed the sponsorship for the 2002 season. ADT Security Services was the title sponsor from 2003 to 2005; and from 2009 to 2013, Dr Pepper sponsored the trophy.[2] Since 2014, Amway has been the trophy sponsor.[4]

The official name is the American Football Coaches Association National Championship Trophy; it was given this permanent name by the association in 2006. In 2009, the AFCA allowed universities to buy replica trophies for any year a school finished first in the Coaches' Poll prior to the trophy's creation in 1986.

Through the 1973 season, the final Coaches' Poll was released in early December, after the regular season, but before postseason bowl games. Beginning with the 1974 season, the Coaches' Poll conducted its final poll after the bowl games.

Throughout the eras of the Bowl Championship Series and its predecessors (19922013) no separate national championship trophy was commissioned by those bodies, with the AFCA Trophy serving that role. During the BCS era the Coaches' Trophy was presented to the winning team in an on-field ceremony after the title game.[5] With the end of the BCS, its successor playoff system, the College Football Playoff, commissioned a new trophy for its champion; officials wanted a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship system.[6] However, coaches were "adamant" that the AFCA trophy continue to be awarded.[5] Since the 2014 season, the trophy has been awarded to the team ranked No. 1 in the final Coaches' Poll of the season in a celebration at that team's stadium sometime after the College Football Playoff National Championship.[1]

Winners

Alabama's 2009 Championship Trophy on display at the Paul W. Bryant Museum
SeasonSchoolHead CoachAP Champion[lower-alpha 1]
1945Oklahoma A&MJim LookabaughArmy
1950OklahomaBud Wilkinson
1951TennesseeRobert Neyland
1952Michigan StateBiggie Munn
1953MarylandJim Tatum
1954UCLARed SandersOhio State
1955OklahomaBud Wilkinson
1956Oklahoma
1957Ohio StateWoody HayesAuburn
1958LSUPaul Dietzel
1959SyracuseBen Schwartzwalder
1960MinnesotaMurray Warmath
1961AlabamaBear Bryant
1962USCJohn McKay
1963TexasDarrell Royal
1964AlabamaBear Bryant
1965Michigan StateDuffy DaughertyAlabama
1966Notre DameAra Parseghian
1967USCJohn McKay
1968Ohio StateWoody Hayes
1969TexasDarrell Royal
1970TexasNebraska
1971NebraskaBob Devaney
1972USCJohn McKay
1973AlabamaBear BryantNotre Dame
1974USCJohn McKayOklahoma
1975OklahomaBarry Switzer
1976PittsburghJohnny Majors
1977Notre DameDan Devine
1978USCJohn RobinsonAlabama
1979AlabamaBear Bryant
1980GeorgiaVince Dooley
1981ClemsonDanny Ford
1982Penn StateJoe Paterno
1983MiamiHoward Schnellenberger
1984Brigham YoungLaVell Edwards
1985OklahomaBarry Switzer
1986Penn StateJoe Paterno
1987MiamiJimmy Johnson
1988Notre DameLou Holtz
1989MiamiDennis Erickson
1990Georgia TechBobby RossColorado
1991WashingtonDon JamesMiami (FL)
1992AlabamaGene Stallings
1993Florida StateBobby Bowden
1994NebraskaTom Osborne
1995Nebraska
1996FloridaSteve Spurrier
1997NebraskaTom OsborneMichigan
1998TennesseePhillip Fulmer
1999Florida StateBobby Bowden
2000OklahomaBob Stoops
2001MiamiLarry Coker
2002Ohio StateJim Tressel
2003LSUNick SabanUSC
2004vacated[lower-alpha 2]USC
2005TexasMack Brown
2006FloridaUrban Meyer
2007LSULes Miles
2008Florida Urban Meyer
2009AlabamaNick Saban
2010AuburnGene Chizik
2011AlabamaNick Saban
2012Alabama
2013Florida StateJimbo Fisher
2014Ohio StateUrban Meyer
2015AlabamaNick Saban
2016ClemsonDabo Swinney
2017AlabamaNick Saban
2018ClemsonDabo Swinney
2019LSUEd Orgeron
2020AlabamaNick Saban
  1. Listed if the AP Poll champion was different than the Coaches' Poll champion.
  2. USC was later stripped of its 2004 Coaches' Poll championship due to NCAA sanctions.

† Retroactively awarded.[7]

By school

School Number Seasons
Alabama 11 1961, 1964, 1973, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020
Oklahoma 6 1950, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1985, 2000
USC 5 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978
LSU 4 1958, 2003, 2007, 2019
Ohio State 4 1957, 1968, 2002, 2014
Nebraska 4 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997
Miami (FL) 4 1983, 1987, 1989, 2001
Texas 4 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005
Clemson 3 1981, 2016, 2018
Florida State 3 1993, 1999, 2013
Notre Dame 3 1966, 1977, 1988
Florida 3 1996, 2006, 2008
Michigan State 2 1952, 1965
Tennessee 2 1951, 1998
Penn State 2 1982, 1986
Auburn 1 2010
BYU 1 1984
Georgia 1 1980
Georgia Tech 1 1990
Maryland 1 1953
Minnesota 1 1960
Oklahoma A&M 1 1945
Pittsburgh 1 1976
Syracuse 1 1959
UCLA 1 1954
Washington 1 1991

See also

References

  1. "FBS coaches' poll will continue every week despite BCS going away". Associated Press. January 13, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  2. "Trophy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-26. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  3. http://www.dimensionsguide.com/bcs-trophy-dimensions/
  4. Dennis Dodd (February 18, 2014). "Amway new sponsor of glass football national championship trophy". CBSsports.com. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  5. Dan Wolken (January 13, 2014). "In Playoff era, AFCA will continue to award Coaches Trophy". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  6. Dennis Dodd (July 23, 2013). "New College Football Playoff will reportedly feature a new trophy". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  7. Culpepper, Chuck (October 13, 2016). "Oklahoma State just won the 1945 college football national championship". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
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