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The Coaches' Trophy

Trophy awarded to the 1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Sport	College football
League	Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
Awarded for	National champion per final Coaches Poll each season
Nickname	Crystal football
Country	United States
Presented by	American Football Coaches Association
History
First award	1986 (retroactively available to earlier top-ranked teams per Coaches Poll)
Most wins	Alabama Crimson Tide (11)
Most recent	2023 Michigan Wolverines
Website	www.afca.com

The Coaches' Trophy (officially known as the AFCA National Championship Trophy and popularly as the "crystal football") 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. Since then, it continues to be awarded to the top-ranked team in the final Coaches Poll of the season.

History

Patrick and Michael Gerrits came up with the idea for a college football trophy to be awarded to the American Football Coaches Association (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 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.

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, from the 1950 to 1985 seasons, prior to the trophy's creation in 1986. Around this time, the AFCA also began the process of awarding retroactive titles for the 1922 to 1949 seasons. The AFCA asked schools who felt they had a legitimate bid for the title to submit their reasons why so that their committee could hear the case and decide. Since then, TCU (1935, 1938), Texas A&M (1939), and Oklahoma State (1945) have received AFCA national championship selections and been awarded The Coaches’ Trophy.

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 final poll has been conducted after the bowl games.

Throughout the eras of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and its predecessors (1992–2013), no separate national championship trophy was commissioned by those bodies, with the AFCA trophy serving that role. During the BCS era, the trophy was presented to the winning team in an on-field ceremony after the title game. With the end of the BCS, its successor playoff system, the College Football Playoff (CFP), commissioned a new trophy for its champion; officials wanted a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship system. However, coaches were "adamant" that the AFCA trophy continue to be awarded. 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.

Sponsorship

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. Due to the poll's affiliation with the United Press International wire service, it was known as the Gerrits Foundation-UPI Coaches Trophy, the UPI Coaches Trophy or UPI Trophy during that time. 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. Since 2014, Amway has been the trophy sponsor.

Coaches Poll national champions

1. USC was later stripped of its 2004 Coaches' Poll championship due to NCAA sanctions.

By school

† Retroactively awarded.

Blue Ribbon Commission

In 2016, the AFCA tasked a "Blue Ribbon Commission" to select AFCA national champions and Coaches' Trophy winners for 1922–1949, representing the years between the establishment of the AFCA and the inaugural Coaches Poll in 1950.

The commission consisted of former college football coaches Grant Teaff, Vince Dooley, and R. C. Slocum.

† Photos of the trophies retroactively awarded to the TCU and SMU teams of 1935 show that different wording was used. The 1935 TCU trophy reads (in part) "The National Football Champions" while the 1935 SMU trophy reads (in part) "For Their Championship Season". Different NCAA-recognized selectors have honored different teams as national champions for the 1935 college football season.

See also

• College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS

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 November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
3. Trophy dimensions dimensionsguide.com
4. Fornelli, Tom (October 13, 2016). "Why Oklahoma State has been named college football's 1945 national champion". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
5. ^ The Coaches' Trophy — 1935 Texas Christian University (Trophy). Schollmaier Arena: American Football Coaches Association. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. The American Football Coaches Association Honors The National Football Champion — Texas Christian University — 1935
6. ^ The Coaches' Trophy — 1938 Texas Christian University (Trophy). Schollmaier Arena: American Football Coaches Association. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. The American Football Coaches Association Honors The National Football Champion — Texas Christian University — 1938
7. ^ The Coaches' Trophy — 1939 Texas A&M University (Trophy). Hall of Champions at Kyle Field: American Football Coaches Association. April 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. The American Football Coaches Association Honors The National Football Champion — Texas A&M University — 1939
8. ^ The Coaches' Trophy — 1945 Oklahoma A&M (Trophy). Heritage Hall, Gallagher-Iba Arena: American Football Coaches Association. March 10, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. The American Football Coaches Association Honors The National Football Champion — Oklahoma A&M — 1945
9. ^ Dan Wolken (January 13, 2014). "In Playoff era, AFCA will continue to award Coaches Trophy". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
10. Dennis Dodd (July 23, 2013). "New College Football Playoff will reportedly feature a new trophy". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
11. "Football Central". United Press International. October 25, 1986. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
12. "SPORTS NEWS BRIEFS; New Trophy Set For No. 1 Team". The New York Times. September 25, 1986.
13. Dennis Dodd (February 18, 2014). "Amway new sponsor of glass football national championship trophy". CBSsports.com. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
14. Culpepper, Chuck (October 13, 2016). "Oklahoma State just won the 1945 college football national championship". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
15. ^ Marshall, Kendrick (October 18, 2016). Written at Stillwater, Oklahoma. "AFCA member explains why OSU awarded 1945 national championship". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
16. The Coaches' Trophy — 1935 Southern Methodist University (Trophy). Gerald J. Ford Stadium Heritage Hall: American Football Coaches Association. June 17, 2024. The American Football Coaches Association Honors — Southern Methodist University 1935 — For Their Championship Season{{cite sign}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

• College football championship trophies
• BCS National Championship Game