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The Big East Conference gave five football awards at the conclusion of every season. The awards were first given in 1991 following the conference's first football season, and last given in 2012 before the conference was restructured as the American Athletic Conference. The five awards included Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Special Teams Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Recipients were selected by the votes of the conference's eight head coaches.[1][2][3]
Award recipients included Heisman Trophy winners, NFL first-round draft picks, and NFL All-Star selections. The Miami Hurricanes were the most successful team through the school's tenure with the conference from 1991 to 2004, winning six awards for offensive players, seven for defense, four for special teams, three for Rookie of the Year, and six for Coach of the Year. Every conference member received at least two awards.
Donovan McNabb of Syracuse is the only player to win more than two awards; he was named Rookie of the Year in 1995 and Offensive Player of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech, Dennis Erickson of Miami, and Brian Kelly of Cincinnati were each Coach of the Year three times.
Offensive Player of the Year
The Offensive Player of the Year was awarded to the player voted most-outstanding at an offensive position. The first two awards were given to quarterback Gino Torretta of the University of Miami. In 1992, Torretta was a unanimous selection, the first of only two players to receive that distinction as of 2012. The other unanimous selection was running back Jordan Todman of Connecticut in 2010. There have been three ties: in 1996, 2001, and 2002, and a three-way tie in 2001. Besides Torretta, quarterbacks Ken Dorsey of Miami and Pat White of West Virginia have both been awarded twice; Dorsey's awards in 2001 and 2002 were both ties. Donovan McNabb was selected three times and became the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft.[4] Miami has received the most awards, six before leaving the conference in 2004. Only South Florida (who joined in 2005) and Temple (which joined in 1991, was expelled after the 2004 season, and returned in 2012) have no offensive winners.
Of the 27 winners, there were 15 quarterbacks, eight running backs, three wide receivers, and one tight end. Nine seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores, and two freshmen were honored.[2][3]
Winners
| * | Unanimous selection[1] |
| † | Co-Player of the Year[1] |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been selected |
| Positions key | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Quarterback | RB | Running back | TE | Tight end | WR | Wide receiver |
| Class key | |||||||
| Fr | Freshman | So | Sophomore | Jr | Junior | Sr | Senior |
Winners by school
| School (First season) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Miami (1991) | 6 | 1991, 1992, 2000†, 2001†, 2002†, 2002† |
| Pittsburgh (1991) | 4 | 1994, 2000†, 2003, 2009 |
| Syracuse (1991) | 3 | 1996†, 1997, 1998 |
| Virginia Tech (1991) | 3 | 1996†, 1999, 2000† |
| West Virginia (1991) | 3 | 2004, 2006, 2007 |
| Boston College (1991) | 2 | 1993, 2001† |
| Connecticut (2004) | 2 | 2008, 2010 |
| Louisville (2005) | 2 | 2005, 2012 |
| Cincinnati (2005) | 1 | 2011 |
| Rutgers (1991) | 1 | 1995 |
| South Florida (2005) | 0 | |
| Temple (1991) | 0 |
Defensive Player of the Year
The Defensive Player of the Year award was given 26 times, with ties in 1991, 2001, 2009, and 2011. Of the 26 winners, 16 were defensive linemen. Seven linebackers and three safeties were honored. Of the recipients, 17 were seniors, eight juniors, and George Selvie the only sophomore.[2][3]
The first award in 1991 was a tie between Darrin Smith, a Miami linebacker, and George Rooks, a defensive lineman from Syracuse. Miami then won three consecutive awards between 1992 and 1994. Only two players have won the award twice—Corey Moore in 1998 and 1999,[1] and Khaseem Greene, who shared the award in 2011[2] and won it outright in 2012.[3]
Like Offensive Player of the Year, Miami won the most defensive awards as well, with seven. Pittsburgh follows with the second most awards with five, including the 2009 Co-Defensive Players of the Year, which is the only occasion where two teammates have been co-selected in the same season. During Temple's first tenure in Big East football from 1991 to 2004, its only conference award was when Dan Klecko won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2002.[5] Of the original 1991 members, Pittsburgh took the longest to win the defensive award, first winning with H.B. Blades in 2006. Pittsburgh won again with another linebacker, Scott McKillop, in 2008.[1] The only member that has failed to win this award is Connecticut, which did not join Big East football until 2004.[2]
Winners
| * | Unanimous selection[1] |
| † | Co-Player of the Year[1] |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been selected |
| Positions key | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Defensive end | DT | Defensive tackle | LB | Linebacker | S | Safety |
| Class key | |||||||
| Fr | Freshman | So | Sophomore | Jr | Junior | Sr | Senior |
| Season | Player | School | Position | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991† | Darrin Smith | Miami | LB | Jr |
| 1991† | George Rooks | Syracuse | DT | Sr |
| 1992 | Micheal Barrow | Miami | LB | Sr |
| 1993 | Kevin Patrick | Miami | DE | Sr |
| 1994 | Warren Sapp | Miami | DL | Jr |
| 1995 | Cornell Brown | Virginia Tech | DE | Jr |
| 1996 | Canute Curtis | West Virginia | DE/DT | Sr |
| 1997 | Donovin Darius | Syracuse | S | Sr |
| 1998 | Corey Moore | Virginia Tech | DE | Jr |
| 1999* | Corey Moore (2) | Virginia Tech | DE | Sr |
| 2000* | Dan Morgan | Miami | LB | Sr |
| 2001† | Ed Reed | Miami | S | Sr |
| 2001† | Dwight Freeney | Syracuse | DE | Sr |
| 2002 | Dan Klecko | Temple | DL | Sr |
| 2003 | Sean Taylor | Miami | S | Jr |
| 2004 | Mathias Kiwanuka | Boston College | DE | Jr |
| 2005 | Elvis Dumervil | Louisville | DE | Sr |
| 2006 | H.B. Blades | Pittsburgh | LB | Sr |
| 2007 | George Selvie | South Florida | DE | So |
| 2008 | Scott McKillop | Pittsburgh | LB | Sr |
| 2009† | Greg Romeus | Pittsburgh | DE | Jr |
| 2009† | Mick Williams | Pittsburgh | DT | Sr |
| 2010 | Jabaal Sheard | Pittsburgh | DE | Sr |
| 2011† | Khaseem Greene | Rutgers | LB | Jr |
| 2011† | Derek Wolfe | Cincinnati | DT | Sr |
| 2012 | Khaseem Greene (2) | Rutgers | LB | Sr |