The Coaches' Trophy (officially known as the AFCA National Championship Trophy and popularly as the "crystal football") is the trophy awarded annually by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) national champion as determined by the Coaches Poll. The trophy has been presented since 1986 and was contractually given to the winner of the BCS National Championship Game and its predecessors from 1992 to 2013. Since then, it continues to be awarded to the top-ranked team in the final Coaches Poll of the season.

History Patrick and Michael Gerrits came up with the idea for a college football trophy to be awarded to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) national champions along with an academic scholarship award to a non-athlete. The intent was to honor the memory of the patriarch of the Gerrits family, Edward J. Gerrits. The trophy consists of a Waterford Crystal football affixed to an ebony base, and carries a value of over $30,000. The winning school retains permanent possession of the trophy, as a new one is awarded every year. The football portion of the trophy weighs approximately eight pounds and together with the stand, it weighs about and stands tall. It is handmade by master craftspeople at Waterford Crystal and reportedly takes nearly three months to complete.Trophy dimensionsdimensionsguide.com

The official name is the American Football Coaches Association National Championship Trophy; it was given this permanent name by the association in 2006. In 2009, the AFCA allowed universities to buy replica trophies for any year a school finished first in the Coaches Poll, from the 1950 to 1985 seasons, prior to the trophy's creation in 1986. Around this time, the AFCA also began the process of awarding retroactive titles for the 1922 to 1949 seasons. The AFCA asked schools who felt they had a legitimate bid for the title to submit their reasons why so that their committee could hear the case and decide. Since then, TCU (1935, 1938), Texas A&M (1939), and Oklahoma State (1945) have received AFCA national championship selections and been awarded The Coaches’ Trophy.

Through the 1973 season, the final Coaches Poll was released in early December, after the regular season, but before postseason bowl games. Beginning with the 1974 season, the final poll has been conducted after the bowl games.

Throughout the eras of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and its predecessors (1992–2013), no separate national championship trophy was commissioned by those bodies, with the AFCA trophy serving that role. During the BCS era, the trophy was presented to the winning team in an on-field ceremony after the title game. With the end of the BCS, its successor playoff system, the College Football Playoff (CFP), commissioned a new trophy for its champion; officials wanted a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship system. However, coaches were "adamant" that the AFCA trophy continue to be awarded. Since the 2014 season, the trophy has been awarded to the team ranked No. 1 in the final Coaches Poll of the season in a celebration at that team's stadium sometime after the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Sponsorship The trophy has undergone several sponsorship changes over the years. It was sponsored by the Gerrits Foundation during the initial 1986 and 1987 seasons and, through the Gerrits' family Pepsi bottling business, Pepsi became a co-sponsor with the Gerrits Foundation in 1988 and 1989. Due to the poll's affiliation with the United Press International wire service, it was known as the Gerrits Foundation-UPI Coaches Trophy, the UPI Coaches Trophy or UPI Trophy during that time. McDonald's was the sole sponsor from 1990 to 1992. Sears began its sponsorship in 1993 and remained until 2001. Circuit City assumed the sponsorship for the 2002 season. ADT Security Services was the title sponsor from 2003 to 2005; and from 2009 to 2013, Dr Pepper sponsored the trophy. Since 2014, Amway has been the trophy sponsor.

Coaches Poll national champions

Season School Head coach AP poll champion1950 Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson 1951 Tennessee Robert Neyland 1952 Michigan State Biggie Munn 1953 Maryland Jim Tatum 1954 UCLA Red Sanders Ohio State1955 Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson 1956 Oklahoma 1957 Ohio State Woody Hayes Auburn1958 LSU Paul Dietzel 1959 Syracuse Ben Schwartzwalder 1960 Minnesota Murray Warmath 1961 Alabama Bear Bryant 1962 USC John McKay 1963 Texas Darrell Royal 1964 Alabama Bear Bryant 1965 Michigan State Duffy Daugherty Alabama1966 Notre Dame Ara Parseghian 1967 USC John McKay1968 Ohio State Woody Hayes1969 Texas Darrell Royal1970 Texas Nebraska1971 Nebraska Bob Devaney 1972 USC John McKay 1973 Alabama Bear Bryant Notre Dame 1974 USC John McKay Oklahoma1975 Oklahoma Barry Switzer 1976 Pittsburgh Johnny Majors 1977 Notre Dame Dan Devine 1978 USC John Robinson Alabama1979 Alabama Bear Bryant 1980 Georgia Vince Dooley1981 Clemson Danny Ford 1982 Penn State Joe Paterno 1983 Miami (FL) Howard Schnellenberger 1984 BYU LaVell Edwards 1985 Oklahoma Barry Switzer 1986 Penn State Joe Paterno 1987 Miami (FL) Jimmy Johnson 1988 Notre Dame Lou Holtz 1989 Miami (FL) Dennis Erickson 1990 Georgia Tech Bobby Ross Colorado1991 Washington Don James Miami (FL)1992 Alabama Gene Stallings 1993 Florida State Bobby Bowden 1994 Nebraska Tom Osborne 1995 Nebraska 1996 Florida Steve Spurrier 1997 Nebraska Tom Osborne Michigan 1998 Tennessee Phillip Fulmer 1999 Florida State Bobby Bowden 2000 Oklahoma Bob Stoops 2001 Miami (FL) Larry Coker 2002 Ohio State Jim Tressel 2003 LSU Nick Saban USC2004 USC2005 Texas Mack Brown 2006 Florida Urban Meyer2007 LSU Les Miles2008 Florida Urban Meyer2009 Alabama Nick Saban2010 Auburn Gene Chizik2011 Alabama Nick Saban2012 Alabama2013 Florida State Jimbo Fisher2014 Ohio State Urban Meyer2015 Alabama Nick Saban2016 Clemson Dabo Swinney2017 Alabama Nick Saban2018 Clemson Dabo Swinney2019 LSU Ed Orgeron2020 Alabama Nick Saban2021 Georgia Kirby Smart2022 Georgia2023 Michigan Jim Harbaugh2024 Ohio State Ryan Day2025 Indiana Curt Cignetti

Blue Ribbon Commission

In 2016, the AFCA tasked a "Blue Ribbon Commission" to select AFCA national champions and Coaches' Trophy winners for 1922–1949, representing the years between the establishment of the AFCA and the inaugural Coaches Poll in 1950.

The commission consisted of former college football coaches Grant Teaff, Vince Dooley, and R. C. Slocum.

Season School Head coach AP poll champion1935 SMU Matty Bell none TCU Dutch Meyer1938 TCU 1939 Texas A&M Homer Norton 1945 Oklahoma A&M Jim Lookabaugh Army1946 Army Earl Blaik Notre Dame Photos of the trophies retroactively awarded to the TCU and SMU teams of 1935 show that different wording was used. The 1935 TCU trophy reads (in part) "The National Football Champions" while the 1935 SMU trophy reads (in part) "For Their Championship Season". Different NCAA-recognized selectors have honored different teams as national champions for the 1935 college football season.

By team Team Number Seasons Alabama11 1961, 1964, 1973, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020 Oklahoma6 1950, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1985, 2000 Ohio State5 1957, 1968, 2002, 2014, 2024 USC5 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 LSU4 1958, 2003, 2007, 2019 Nebraska4 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997 Miami (FL)4 1983, 1987, 1989, 2001 Texas4 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005 Clemson3 1981, 2016, 2018 Florida State3 1993, 1999, 2013 Notre Dame3 1966, 1977, 1988 Florida3 1996, 2006, 2008 Georgia3 1980, 2021, 2022 Michigan State2 1952, 1965 Penn State2 1982, 1986 TCU2 1935,† 1938† Tennessee2 1951, 1998 Army1 1946† Auburn1 2010 BYU1 1984 Georgia Tech1 1990 Maryland1 1953 Michigan1 2023 Minnesota1 1960 Oklahoma State1 1945† Pittsburgh1 1976 Syracuse1 1959 Texas A&M1 1939† UCLA1 1954 Washington1 1991 Indiana1 2025

† Retroactively awarded.

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