Terrel Bernard of Baylor; Jack Coan of Notre Dame; and Brian Kearns, Jr. of Stonehill Named 2021 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Nominees

Terrel Bernard of Baylor; Jack Coan of Notre Dame; and Brian Kearns, Jr. of Stonehill Named 2021 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Nominees

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• Comeback-Player.com: Nominate football student-athletes
• Follow on Twitter @ComebackPlayrFB; Use the hashtag #MayoClinicCPOY
• Follow on Instagram @Comeback_Player_cfb

Terrel Bernard of Baylor; Jack Coan of Notre Dame; and Brian Kearns, Jr. of Stonehill College Named 2021 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Nominees
 
NEW YORK, N.Y. — The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press (AP), the Fiesta Bowl Organization and Mayo Clinic — your source for medical answers, have selected three college football student-athletes — Terrel Bernard, a senior linebacker at Baylor University; Jack Coan, a senior quarterback at the University of Notre Dame; and Brian Kearns, Jr. a senior running back at Stonehill College — as its first three nominees for the 2021 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award.
 
Ten times during the 2021 college football season, three inspiring student-athletes from all levels of college football who have overcome injury, illness or other challenges, will be recognized as Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Nominees by a panel of writers, editors and sports information directors from CoSIDA, AP and Touchdown Illustrated. CoSIDA members can nominate student-athletes until November 1 at Comeback-Player.com.
 
In December, three of the 30 nominees will be chosen as winners of the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award will be recognized at a special ceremony during the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, January 1, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
 
Here’s a look at the inspiring stories of this week’s three honorees:
 
 

Terrel Bernard (SR, LB, Baylor) - The 6’-1” 222-lb senior linebacker is unquestionably the heart and soul of the Baylor football team. The La Porte, Texas native was the team leader in tackles, sacks and tackles for loss last season before suffering a torn labrum, dislocated shoulder and fractured glenoid at Iowa State on Nov. 7.  The injury caused him to miss the rest of the season and refrain from all football activities for more than six months.  His rehab process was a grind; he couldn’t move much at all and spent the first month post-injury in a sling. But all the hard work paid off when he took the field at his WILL linebacker position on opening day and recorded 9 tackles, 1 PD, 1 PBU and 1 QBH in the Bears 29-20 win over Texas State. In week two, he recorded 7 tackles in the Bears win over Texas Southern.
 


Jack Coan (SR, QB, Notre Dame) – After passing for more than 2,700 yards and 18 TD’s for the University of Wisconsin in 2019, Coan’s 2020 season ended before it had a chance to begin. After suffering a non-contact foot injury during practice on October 3, he underwent surgery four days later and would be forced to miss the entire season. Rather than return to the Badgers or enter his name into the NFL draft, the Sayville, NY native chose to transfer and compete for the starting quarterback position at Notre Dame. The 6’-3” 222-lb senior began his Irish career in style completing 26-of-35 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns in the nationally televised 38-35 overtime win over Florida State.  The following week he came back onto the field after dislocating a finger to throw the game-winning touchdown with 1:09 left on the clock against Toledo.
 


Brian Kearns, Jr (SR, RB, Stonehill College) - After racking up 2,072 yards rushing and a school record 24 touchdowns through his first three seasons, Kearns, Jr., suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first drive of the Skyhawks second game of the 2019 season. Determined not to have his career end on a sour note, the North Arlington, NJ native focused his attention on returning for a fifth-year in 2020, only to have that season cancelled. The two-year wait to return to the field was worth it for the 5’-9” 210-lb halfback who recorded 103 yards rushing on 15 carries and one reception for 15 yards in their 35-13 opening day win against Bloomsburg University.  He followed that up rushing for 86 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in a week two in over Southern Connecticut State.
 
Past winners of the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award have included:  2018 – Antwan Dixon (Kent State), Seth Simmer (Dartmouth), Antonio Wimbush (Carson-Newman); 2019 – Jake Luton (Oregon State), Drew Wilson (Georgia Southern), Octavion Wilson (Salisbury University); 2020 – Jarek Broussard (Colorado), Kenneth Horsey (Kentucky) and Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina).  For a complete list of past honorees and additional details on their remarkable comeback stories, visit www.Comeback-Player.com; follow via Twitter at @ComebackPlayrFB via the hashtag #MayoClinicCPOY; and on Instagram at @Comeback_Player_CFB.  
 
About Mayo Clinic: Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. For information on COVID-19, including Mayo Clinic's Coronavirus Map tracking tool, which has 14-day forecasting on COVID-19 trends, visit the Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Resource Center

About CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America: CoSIDA was founded in 1957 and is a 3,000+ member national organization comprised of the sports public relations, media relations and communications/information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada.  The organization is the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics.

About Associated Press: The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. On the web: www.ap.org.

About the Fiesta Bowl Organization: Since 1971, the Fiesta Bowl is a world-class community organization that executes innovative experiences, drives economic growth and champions charitable causes, inspiring pride in all Arizonans during and outside of college football bowl season. As a nonprofit organization, it is driven by its vision for the importance of community outreach and service. Through the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl and its year-round events, such as the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Parade, corporate partnerships and numerous community events throughout the year, the organization provides charitable giving to enhance Arizona nonprofit organizations that serve communities through youth, sports and education. On the web: FiestaBowl.org
 
Media Contacts
Doug Drotman (doug@drotman-pr.com or 631-462-1198)
Doug Vance (dougvance@cosida.com or 785-691-7708)