Mack Named a Finalist for the 2019 Campbell Trophy

National Football Foundation | Virginia Athletics Master Plan

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia senior inside linebacker Jordan Mack has been named a finalist for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy Presented by Mazda, announced today (Oct. 30) by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. The award recognizes an individual as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. Selected from a nationwide pool of 185 semifinalists from among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, Mack is one of 12 finalists for the award and the only student-athlete from the ACC.
 
Mack (Sr., Lithonia, Ga.) will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. Mack, along with the other 12 finalists will travel to New York City for the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 10, where his accomplishments will be highlighted. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 30th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. The event will take place at the New York Hilton Midtown and will be live streamed, with specific broadcast information to be announced at a later date.
 
“We are extremely proud to announce the finalists for this year’s Campbell Trophy Presented by Mazda,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “These young men have an unrelenting commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives, and they represent all that is right in college football. They serve as living examples that Football Matters, and we are excited to honor their hard work and accomplishments with postgraduate scholarships.” 
 
Following the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, the recipient of the 2019 Campbell Trophy Presented by Mazda will be honored at several other prestigious events. On Wednesday, Dec. 11, a luncheon will be held in his honor at the New York Athletic Club (NYAC), the official home of the trophy since 2013. From there, he will travel directly to Atlanta for ESPN’s “The Home Depot College Football Awards” at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, Dec. 12, where he will be interviewed live during the show. Finally, he will travel to New Orleans to be honored on the field during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 13.
 
First awarded in 1990, The William V. Campbell Trophy Presented by Mazda is named in honor of the late Bill Campbell,the former CEO and chairman of Intuit, a former player and head coach at Columbia University, and the 2004 recipient of the NFF’s Gold Medal. The award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $7,000 increase in postgraduate funds for a total scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of $223,000 in scholarships will be awarded Dec. 10, pushing the program’s all-time distributions to more than $11.7 million.
 
 
 
Mack is No. 2 in the ACC with 7.0 sacks (No. 14 in the nation) and is No. 4 among the nation’s linebackers with sacking the quarterback. Mack is the UVA sack leader on a team that is No. 4 nationally in the category (4.0 per game). He is third on the team with 44 tackles and also has 8.0 tackles for loss for a UVA squad that ranks No. 7 in the nation in tackles for loss (8.4 per game). Mack is a major cog for a UVA defense that ranks No. 11 nationally in total defense (281.5) and that has kept its first eight opponents under 400 yards of total offense. The last time that happened in Charlottesville was 1969. UVA also ranks No. 10 in the nation in passing defense (169.1).
 
Mack’s community involvement includes a passion for his work with the Kindness Café + Play, which is a café in Charlottesville that employs people with cognitive disabilities, creating a space where people with and without disabilities interact as peers and where connections are made. Jordan’s volunteer work with the café includes marketing and promotion of the café locally about the need for such an endeavor in the community. Mack is also involved with UVA’s “Thursday’s Heroes” program and he mentors elementary school students at the Boys & Girls Club and visits sick children at the hospital throughout the year.
 
 Virginia is one of five schools (only ACC school) to have multiple Campbell Trophy recipients. Former UVA All-American linebacker Micah Kiser the most recent winner, the 28th all-time recipient in 2017. Kiser was a CoSIDA second-team Academic All-American and is only the second player in ACC history to lead the league in tackles for three years in a row. Kiser graduated No. 5 all-time at UVA with 411 career tackles and he currently plays for the Los Angeles Rams after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Former Virginia standout Tom Burns was the Campbell Trophy’s fourth recipient. He won the award in 1994. He was a two-year starter at linebacker and four-year performer. Burns became one of Virginia’s all-time leading tacklers with 200 career stops, placing him 15th on the Cavaliers’ all-time roster at the time of his graduation. Majoring in nuclear engineering, he compiled a 3.92 GPA and was twice named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. His many academic accolades during his senior year include the Woody Hayes National Scholar Athlete Award, the Jim Tatum Award and the ACC’s Weaver-James Post-Graduate Award.

Mack is UVA’s sixth all-time finalist for the Campbell Trophy. Stephen Phelan, Jr. (1997), Tiki Barber (1996) and Gary Cuozzo (1962) join Kiser (2017) and Burns (1994) as the six all-time Campbell Trophy finalists from Virginia.