HOUSTON, TX — The Lombardi Award preseason watchlist was announced by the Lombardi Award organization on Tuesday, August 15. Texas Tech’s Jaylon Hutchings was one of 80 players announced for the watchlist to win the award. The Lombardi Award is an award annually presented to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to the athlete’s outstanding performance and ability.
Hutchings enters 2023 as a super senior and in his last season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He is one of the country’s top defensive linemen and has accumulated impressive stats at Texas Tech up to this point in his career. Hutchings has totaled 149 career tackles, including 18.5 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks. Last season, Hutchings had 50 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss.
Texas Tech DT Jaylon Hutchings
(Credit: vivathematadors.com)
Texas Tech’s defense has been on the upswing since the addition of Head Coach Joey McGuire. As the Red Raiders continue to improve as a team, people around the country are taking notice. Hutchings adds this latest recognition to what is quickly becoming a laundry list of potential accolades for the d-tackle out of Forney, Texas. On Monday, August 14, the senior defensive tackle was named to the Bednarik Award watch list (College Defensive Player of the Year). He is also on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist (top defensive player in college football) and the Outland Trophy preseason watchlist (awarded to College football’s best interior lineman).
San Angelo LIVE!’s Ryan Chadwick had the opportunity to interview Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradord Jr. at the Big 12 Media Days in July to talk about Texas Tech’s upcoming 2023 football season. Check out the full interview below.
Other players who made the list that play football in Texas and the Big 12 Conference are:
- Brandon Coleman, OT, TCU
- Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
- Jaylan Ford, LB, Texas
- Cooper Beebe, OG, Kansas State
- Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma
- Zach Frazier, Center, West Virginia
- McKinnley Jackson, DT, Texas A&M
- Mike Novitsky, Center, Kansas
- Josh Pearcy, DE, Rice
- Ja'Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas
- Damonic Williams, DT, TCU
- Branson Hickman, Center, SMU
San Angelo LIVE! also interviewed TCU's Brandon Coleman at Big 12 Media Days. Check out the full interview HERE.
To be considered for the Lombardi Award, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:
- Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
- Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
- Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.
- Be eligible to participate in the current season.
The voting process will follow this schedule.
- October 18 - 30, 2023: Vote to determine Semi-finalists.
- November 1, 2023: Semi-finalists announcement
- November 2 - 13, 2023: Vote to determine Four Finalists
- November 15, 2023: Four Finalists announcement
- November 17 – December 4, 2023: Final vote to determine the winner.
- December 6, 2023: Lombardi Award Winner announced.
A mid-season watch list will be released on Oct 13 to reflect any updates to the current list.
Texas Tech begins its 2023 campaign on Saturday, September 2, 2023, when the Red Raiders travel to Laramie, Wyoming, to face off with the Wyoming Cowboys. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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