The Gagliardi Trophy was first presented in 1993 to the Outstanding Division III college football player of the year by the Jostens Company and the J-Club of Saint John's University in Minnesota. Since that time, the award has become one of the leading collegiate football awards in Division III football, honoring excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named for John Gagliardi, head football coach of Carroll College 1949 to 1952 and Saint John's University in Minnesota from 1953 to 2012. The trophy was presented by the Salem Rotary Club each year in Salem, Virginia until 2018.
Kliff Timothy Kingsbury is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas Tech, finishing in the top three in several school passing records before being selected in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He later played for other teams before entering coaching in 2008.
Garrett Antone Gilbert is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. The son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, he played college football at the University of Texas at Austin and SMU.
Kevin William O'Connell, nicknamed "KOC", is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). O'Connell played quarterback for the San Diego State Aztecs, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft. O'Connell also played for the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and San Diego Chargers before retiring in 2012. O'Connell's NFL coaching career began in 2015; he held various assistant coaching roles on the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams.
The Mount Union Purple Raiders football program represents the University of Mount Union in college football at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Mount Union have played their home games at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio since 1913, which makes it the oldest college football stadium in Ohio. The Purple Raiders have claimed 13 NCAA Division III Football Championship and 34 OAC titles and have 12 undefeated seasons.
Austin Davis is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was a member of the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, where he began his career as a walk-on, he redshirted the 2007 season and became the starter a year later. He ended the year with a combined total of 15 school records for both game and single-season marks and led the Golden Eagles to a bowl game victory in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, being named to the freshman all-C-USA team.
Zachary Rich Mettenberger is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft. After two seasons in Tennessee as a backup, Mettenberger had an offseason stint with the San Diego Chargers before spending his final NFL year as a backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016. Mettenberger last played professionally with the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019. He began a coaching career the following year and has been an analyst for the University of Alabama since 2022.
Johnathan Paul Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football", is an American former football quarterback who played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 2018, the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019, and in Fan Controlled Football from 2021 to 2022.
Christian Blaize Hackenberg is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft. Hackenberg spent two seasons with the Jets before being released, becoming only the third quarterback selected in the first or second round of the common-draft era not to play a game in his first two seasons. He was also a member of the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, and Cincinnati Bengals, although he never actually played in an NFL game.
Kenneth Wade Hill Jr. is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the associate head coach and running backs coach at Incarnate Word. He previously played for the Texas A&M Aggies and TCU Horned Frogs. In his first start with the Aggies, he broke Johnny Manziel's school single-game passing yards record with 511 yards.
Austin Michael Appleby is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is an offensive analyst coach for the UAB Blazers. He played college football at Purdue University from 2012 to 2015 for coaches Danny Hope and Darrell Hazell, before graduate transferring to the University of Florida where here he played for coach Jim McElwain in 2016 and played in the Alliance of American Football in 2019. He was a consensus 3-star high school prospect as a senior.
Stephen Case Cookus, nicknamed the Chef, is an American football quarterback for the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL). As a true freshman at Northern Arizona University, he was named the recipient of the 2015 Jerry Rice Award and the STATS FCS Freshman Player of the Year Award, both of which are awarded to the most outstanding freshman player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. He holds the record for most combined passing and rushing touchdowns in a USFL game with five, which he accomplished in a game against the Michigan Panthers on June 5, 2022.
Jerry Schuplinski is an American football coach who is currently a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. Most recently, he had been the tight ends coach for the Las Vegas Raiders. Prior to that, Jerry was an assistant coach for Case Western Reserve for six seasons before becoming a part of the Patriots' staff in 2013. Schuplinski was part of the Patriots coaching staffs that won Super Bowl XLIX, Super Bowl LI, and Super Bowl LIII.
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan areas with at least one major professional sports franchise.
The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectrum Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Florida. They were coached by Heisman Trophy winner and former college and National Football League (NFL) head coach Steve Spurrier. NFL front office veteran Tim Ruskell was the general manager and longtime college athletics executive Michael P. Waddell was the team president.
The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and were coached by former NFL player and head coach Mike Singletary.
The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home games at SDCCU Stadium. They were coached by former NFL head coach Mike Martz. The team was one of the two professional football teams playing in San Diego, along with the San Diego Strike Force of the Indoor Football League, and the first since the former San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles in 2017.
Alex Ross is a former American professional gridiron football quarterback. He previously played for the BC Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and San Diego Fleet. He played college football at Coastal Carolina.
William Brandon Silvers is an American football quarterback for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at Troy.
The 2018 The Spring League season was the second overall in league history, which was played in Round Rock, Texas.
