After revealing the 2016 CBS Sports All-America teams on Tuesday, it's time to turn our attention to the winners of the season's most prestigious individual awards. These honors were decided by a panel of college football writers, analysts and experts across CBS Sports platforms.
Player of the Year: Lamar Jackson, Louisville
The youngest Heisman Trophy winner ever also takes home our player of the year honor, and it wasn't hard for us to join the consensus in honoring Jackson's wildly impressive 2016 campaign. Jackson's 51 total touchdowns (30 passing, 21 rushing) would rank tied for 39th nationally among all teams in 2016. He also set single-season ACC and school records for touchdowns, rushing yards by a quarterback (1,538) and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (21).
Jackson's emergence into the college football consciousness happened quickly with eight touchdowns in the season-opening win against Charlotte. It wasn't until the bowl prep during his freshman season that Jackson was really even handed the keys to this offense, spending much of 2015 in a three-player rotation under center until he settled in and really broke out against Texas A&M in the Cards' Music City Bowl win. There was an expectation that he'd be better in the pocket and more effective in 2016, but no one knew he'd be this good. Now he's not sneaking up on anyone and we in college football are lucky to get another year of watching his elusiveness and playmaking ability on display again next fall.
Coach of the Year: Mike MacIntyre, Colorado
When a coach is rebuilding a program, like MacIntyre has done at Colorado, he's got to sell a vision to his players. That requires a steadfastness and patience, and even after losing 27 of 37 games in his first three seasons with the Buffs, there was nothing to shake MacIntyre. After leading Colorado back into the top 10 of the polls in November and showing up in the Pac-12 title game with a group of upperclassmen that bought into MacIntyre's vision, now he can sell results.
Colorado's first 10-win season since 2001 was followed by several Coach of the Year honors, including this one from CBS Sports. It's going to be tough to replicate the success of 2016 after saying goodbye to at least 11 starters from the Pac-12 title game, including quarterback Sefo Liufau and defensive stars like Chidobe Awuize, Tedric Thompson and Jimmie Gilbert. But you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who is betting on Colorado to descend back to the cellar of the Pac-12 South. Coach Mac is for real, and the Buffs are going to be here to stay for a while.
Freshman of the Year: Jalen Hurts, Alabama
The first true freshman to start at quarterback for Alabama since 1984, Hurts' 2016 season has been a slow burn into superstardom. He started the season as a change-of-pace option against USC in the opener and never looked back, going on to set single-season school records for rushing yards by a quarterback and knock on the door of breaking single-season records for both touchdown responsibility and total offense. He's got the top completion percentage in the SEC (65.3), but his versatility has been the key to opening up the offense and helping power the Tide to the top overall seed in the College Football Playoff.
Oh, and as for the "bigger" awards? You can bet that Hurts wont' sneak up on anyone going into 2017. Regardless of what happens with Alabama in the playoff, expect the soon-to-be-sophomore quarterback to start all 2017 Heisman Trophy discussions.
