American Athletic Conference football individual awards

The American Athletic Conference (The American) gives five football awards at the conclusion of every season. The awards were first given in 2013, following the restructuring of the Big East Conference. The awards existed in the same format in the Big East from 1991 to 2012.

The five awards include Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Special Teams Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Recipients are selected by the votes of the conference's head coaches.^[1]

Offensive Player of the Year

The Offensive Player of the Year is awarded to the player voted most outstanding at an offensive position.

Winners

*	Unanimous selection
^†	Co-Player of the Year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been selected

Positions key
QB	Quarterback	RB	Running back	TE	Tight end	WR	Wide receiver
Class key
Fr	Freshman	So	Sophomore	Jr	Junior	Sr	Senior

Season	Player	School	Position	Class
2013	Bortles, BlakeBlake Bortles	UCF	QB	Jr
2014	Carden, ShaneShane Carden[2]	East Carolina	QB	Sr
2015	Reynolds, KeenanKeenan Reynolds[3]	Navy	QB	Sr
2016	Quinton Flowers[4]	USF	QB	Jr

Winners by school

School (First season)	Winners	Years
East Carolina (2014)	1	2014
Navy (2015)	1	2015
UCF (2013)	1	2013
USF (2016)	1	2016

Defensive Player of the Year

The Defensive Player of the Year is awarded to the player voted most-outstanding at an defensive position.

Winners

*	Unanimous selection
^†	Co-Player of the Year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been selected

Positions key
DE	Defensive end	DT	Defensive tackle	LB	Linebacker	S	Safety
Class key
Fr	Freshman	So	Sophomore	Jr	Junior	Sr	Senior

Season	Player	School	Position	Class
2013	Smith, MarcusMarcus Smith	Louisville	DE	Sr
2014^†	Glenn, JacobyJacoby Glenn[2]	UCF	CB	So
2014^†	{{{last}}}, Tank Jakes[[Tank Jakes {{{last}}}|Tank Jakes {{{last}}}]][2]	Memphis	LB	Sr
2015	Matakevich, TylerTyler Matakevich[3]	Temple	LB	Sr
2016	{{{last}}}, Shaquem Griffin[[Shaquem Griffin {{{last}}}|Shaquem Griffin {{{last}}}]][4]	UCF	LB	Jr

Winners by school

School (First season)	Winners	Years
Louisville (2013)	1	2013
Memphis (2013)	1	2014
Temple (2013)	1	2015
UCF (2013)	2	2014, 2016

Special Teams Player of the Year

The Special Teams Player of the Year award is given to the player voted best on special teams. The recipient can either be a placekicker, punter, returner, or a position known as a gunner.

Winners

*	Unanimous selection
^†	Co-Player of the Year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been selected

Positions key
K	Placekicker	KR	Kick returner	P	Punter	PR	Punt returner	RS	Return specialist
Class key
Fr	Freshman	So	Sophomore	Jr	Junior	Sr	Senior

Season	Player	School	Position	Class
2013^†	Ayers, DemarcusDemarcus Ayers	Houston	RS	Fr
2013^†	Hornsey, TomTom Hornsey	Memphis	P	Sr
2014	Elliott, JakeJake Elliott[2]	Memphis	K	So
2015	Elliott, JakeJake Elliott (2)[3]	Memphis	K	Jr
2016	{{{last}}}, Tony Pollard[[Tony Pollard {{{last}}}|Tony Pollard {{{last}}}]][4]	Memphis	KR	Fr

Winners by school

School (First season)	Winners	Years
Memphis (2013)	4	2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Houston (2013)	1	2013

Rookie of the Year

The Rookie of the Year award is given to the conference's best freshman.

Winners

*	Unanimous selection
^†	Co-Player of the Year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been selected

Positions key
DE	Defensive end	LB	Linebacker	OT	Offensive tackle	QB	Quarterback
S	Safety	RB	Running back	WR	Wide receiver	TE	Tight end

Season	Player	School	Position
2013	O'Korn, JohnJohn O'Korn	Houston	QB
2014	{{{last}}}, Marlon Mack[[Marlon Mack {{{last}}}|Marlon Mack {{{last}}}]][2]	South Florida	RB
2015	{{{last}}}, Tre'Quan Smith[[Tre'Quan Smith {{{last}}}|Tre'Quan Smith {{{last}}}]][3]	UCF	WR
2016	{{{last}}}, Ed Oliver[[Ed Oliver {{{last}}}|Ed Oliver {{{last}}}]][4]	Houston	DT

Winners by school

School (First season)	Winners	Years
Houston (2013)	2	2013, 2016
USF (2013)	1	2014
UCF (2013)	1	2015

Coach of the Year

George O'Leary won the first award with UCF after an 11–1 regular season in which UCF earned The American's last automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, the first major bowl appearance in school history.^[1]

Winners

Records reflect those at the time of selection, and do not include the conference championship game, the Army–Navy Game (which takes place a week after the conference title game), or bowl games.

George O'Leary, the 2013 winner

*	Unanimous selection
^†	Co-Coach of the Year
Coach (X)	Denotes the number of times the coach has been selected

Season	Coach	School	Year with school	Record
2013	O'Leary, GeorgeGeorge O'Leary	UCF	10th	11–1
2014	Fuente, JustinJustin Fuente[2]	Memphis	3rd	9–3
2015^†	Herman, TomTom Herman[3]	Houston	1st	11–1
2015^†	Niumatalolo, KenKen Niumatalolo[3]	Navy	8th	9–2
2016	Niumatalolo, KenKen Niumatalolo[4]	Navy	9th	9–2

Winners by school

School (First season)	Winners	Years
Houston (2013)	1	2015
Memphis (2013)	1	2014
Navy (2015)	2	2015, 2016
UCF (2013)	1	2013

Footnotes

• ^a Louisville left The American for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after 2013.^[5]

References

1. American Athletic Conference (December 11, 2013). "American Athletic Conference Announces 2013 Postseason Football Honors". Retrieved December 31, 2013.
2. "American Athletic Conference Announces 2014 Postseason Football Honors" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
3. "2015 Postseason Football Honors" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
4. "American Athletic Conference Announces 2016 Football Honors" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
5. "ACC votes to add Louisville". 'Sports Illustrated. November 28, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2013.