College Sports Information Directors of America

2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Football Teams release dates: 
College Division Teams: PDF  |  doc
NCAA Division III Teams: PDF  |  doc
NCAA Division II Teams: PDF  |  doc 
NCAA Division I Teams: PDF  |  doc 

• Academic All-America® Program Index Page

Christian McCaffrey of Stanford University Headlines CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Football Team
 

AUSTIN, Texas–Junior running back Christian McCaffrey of Stanford University headlines the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I football team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
McCaffrey has been selected as the 2016 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for Division I football. A communication major with a 3.43 G.P.A., McCaffrey also was a first-team Academic All-America® choice last year.
 
The Castle Rock, Colo., native leads all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players with 2,327 all-purpose yards this season, the second-highest total in school history behind his own NCAA FBS-record mark of 3,864 all-purpose yards last year. McCaffrey also has rushed for 1,603 yards this season, fourth-most in Stanford history, and has scored a career-high 16 touchdowns. He has been particularly strong down the stretch, rushing for 991 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last five games, including back-to-back 200-yard rushing games in his two most recent outings against California and Rice.
 
McCaffrey, who was the 2015 Associated Press National Player of the Year and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, ranks second in school history with 6,987 all-purpose yards (only 134 shy of Darrin Nelson’s school record) and stands third in the Stanford record books with 3,922 career rushing yards.
 
Sixteen of the 48 members of the 2016 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I football teams have at least a 3.90 G.P.A., with six student-athletes sporting a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. The 24 members of the first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.82.
 
Eastern Washington University senior wide receiver Cooper Kupp is a three-time Academic All-America® selection and maintains a 3.62 G.P.A. while finishing work on his degree in economics. Kupp was a second-team pick in 2014 before moving up to the first team in 2015 and 2016.
 
McCaffrey and Kupp are among a group of 13 student-athletes who are two-time Academic All-America® choices, including seven who garnered first-team citations for the second consecutive year. University of Dayton linebacker Christopher Beaschler, South Dakota State University defensive back Nick Mears, North Dakota State University junior defensive lineman Greg Menard, University of Northern Iowa senior Karter Schult and Duke University senior A.J. Wolf joined McCaffrey and Kupp as the seven repeat first-team Academic All-America® student-athletes in 2016.
 
In addition, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga senior running back Derrick Craine, Kent State University graduate student linebacker Nick Cuthbert, Bowling Green State University punter Joseph Davidson, University of Arkansas linebacker Brooks Ellis, South Dakota State junior wide receiver Jake Wieneke and Penn State University offensive lineman Tyler Yazujian all moved up to the Academic All-America® first team this year after collecting second-team honors in 2015.
 
The Academic All-America® Division I football first team includes four student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. in Mears, University of New Mexico graduate student offensive lineman Garrett Adcock, Syracuse University graduate student tight end Cameron McPherson and Stephen F. Austin State University junior defensive back Marlon Walls. Western Michigan University senior Zach Terrell was the first-team quarterback, while Kupp and Wieneke are the wide receivers and Craine and McCaffrey are the running backs. Adcock and Yazujian were joined on the first-team offensive line by Boise State University junior Mason Hampton, Oklahoma State University junior Brad Lundblade and Lehigh University senior Micah Tennant.
 
University of Memphis senior Jake Elliott is the first-team Academic All-America® placekicker this year.
 
On defense, Menard, Schult and Wolf are joined on the defensive line by Ohio State University junior Sam Hubbard. All three first-team choices in the linebacking unit — Beaschler, Cuthbert and Ellis — also are returnees. Meanwhile, Mears is the only returning student-athlete among the first-team defensive back contingent, which also includes Walls, University of Akron junior Zach Guiser and University of Notre Dame junior Drue Tranquill.
 
Davidson completes the Academic All-America® First Team as the squad’s punter.
 
The Academic All-America® second team is made up entirely of newcomers. Texas Tech University junior Patrick Mahomes II is the second-team quarterback, while Northwestern University graduate student Austin Carr and East Carolina University senior Zay Jones are the second-team wide receivers. Memphis senior Daniel Montiel is the tight end and Northwestern junior Justin Jackson and Dayton junior Tucker Yinger are the second-team running backs.
 
The offensive linemen named to the second team include Boise State senior Steven Baggett, The Citadel senior Nick Jeffreys, Western Illinois University graduate student Jacob Judd, Jacksonville State University junior Justin Lea and Fresno State University graduate student Jacob Vazquez.
 
Auburn University junior placekicker Daniel Carlson rounds out the second-team offense.
 
Morehead State University junior Colt Briggs, University of Utah senior Hunter Dimick, Cornell University junior Seth Hope and Boston College senior Kevin Kavalec make up the second-team defensive line. The linebackers on the second team are The Citadel senior Joe Crochet, Butler University senior Sean Horan and University of Virginia senior Micah Kiser. The second-team defensive backs include a pair of University of San Diego student-athletes in senior Devyn Bryant and junior Max Michaels, along with Dayton sophomore David Leisring and Akron senior James Turner.
 
Boise State senior Sean Wale is the Academic All-America® second-team punter.
 
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University
Academic All-America® Committee - Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
jeff.schwartz@ndsu.edu
(701) 231-8332
 
Chris Masters, Big Ten Conference
Academic All-America® Committee - Coordinator of Publicity
cmasters@bigten.org
(847) 696-1010, ext. 146