This is a list of Sun Belt Conference players and coaches who have been recognized for their work on the field at the end of each football season.
Player of the Year Season Player Team 2001 Wes Counts QB Middle Tennessee 2002 Brandon Kennedy DT North Texas 2003 Brandon Kennedy (2) DT North Texas 2004 Jamario Thomas RB North Texas 2005 Steven Jyles QB UL Monroe 2006 Omar Haugabook QB Troy 2007 Rusty Smith QB Florida Atlantic 2008 Tyrell Fenroy RB UL Lafayette 2009 Levi Brown QB Troy 2010 T. Y. Hilton WR FIU 2011 Ryan Aplin QB Arkansas State 2012 Ryan Aplin (2) QB Arkansas State 2013 Antonio Andrews RB Western Kentucky 2014 Elijah McGuire RB UL Lafayette 2015 Nick Arbuckle QB Georgia State 2016 Ja'Von Rolland-Jones DE Arkansas State 2017 Ja'Von Rolland-Jones (2) DE Arkansas State 2018 Justice Hansen QB Arkansas State 2019 Omar Bayless WR Arkansas State 2020 Grayson McCall QB Coastal Carolina 2021 Grayson McCall (2) QB Coastal Carolina 2022 Grayson McCall (3) QB Coastal Carolina 2023 Jordan McCloud QB James Madison 2024 Mike Green DE Marshall 2025 Alonza Barnett QB James Madison Source:
Offensive Player of the Year Season Player Team 2001 Dwone Hicks RB Middle Tennessee 2002 Danny Smith RB Arkansas State 2003 Patrick Cobbs RB North Texas 2004 Jamario Thomas RB North Texas 2005 Steven Jyles QB UL Monroe 2006 Omar Haugabook QB Troy 2007 Omar Haugabook (2) QB Troy 2008 Michael Desormeaux QB UL Lafayette 2009 Levi Brown QB Troy 2010 Bobby Rainey RB Western Kentucky 2011 Bobby Rainey (2) RB Western Kentucky 2012 Kolton Browning QB UL Monroe 2013 Antonio Andrews RB Western Kentucky 2014 Elijah McGuire RB UL Lafayette 2015 Larry Rose III RB New Mexico State 2016 Jalin Moore RB Appalachian State 2017 Justice Hansen QB Arkansas State 2018 Zac Thomas QB Appalachian State 2019 Darrynton Evans RB Appalachian State 2020 Jonathan Adams WR Arkansas State 2021 Jalen Tolbert WR South Alabama 2022 Todd Centeio QB James Madison 2023 Kimani Vidal RB Troy 2024 Ben Wooldridge QB Louisiana 2025 Colton Joseph QB Old Dominion Source:
Defensive Player of the Year Season Player Team 2001 Brad Kassell LB North Texas 2002 Brandon Kennedy DT North Texas 2003 Chris Hurd LB North Texas 2004 DeMarcus Ware DE Troy State 2005 Jeff Littlejohn DT Middle Tennessee 2006 Keyonvis Bouie LB FIU 2007 Tyrell Johnson S Arkansas State 2008 Alex Carrington DE Arkansas State 2009 Cardia Jackson LB UL Monroe Chris McCoy DE Middle Tennessee 2010 Jamari Lattimore DE Middle Tennessee 2011 Brandon Joiner DE Arkansas State 2012 Quanterus Smith DE Western Kentucky 2013 Xavius Boyd LB Western Kentucky 2014 David Mayo LB Texas State 2015 Ronald Blair DE Appalachian State 2016 Rashad Dillard DE Troy 2017 Jeremy Reaves S South Alabama 2018 Ronheen Bingham DE Arkansas State 2019 Akeem Davis-Gaither LB Appalachian State 2020 Tarron Jackson DE Coastal Carolina 2021 D'Marco Jackson LB Appalachian State 2022 Carlton Martial LB Troy 2023 Jalen Green DE James Madison 2024 Marques Watson-Trent LB Georgia Southern 2025 Trent Hendrick LB James Madison Source:
Coach of the Year Season Coach Team 2001 Darrell Dickey North Texas 2002 Darrell Dickey (2) North Texas 2003 Darrell Dickey (3) North Texas 2004 Darrell Dickey (4) North Texas 2005 Steve Roberts Arkansas State 2006 Rick Stockstill Middle Tennessee 2007 Howard Schnellenberger Florida Atlantic 2008 Larry Blakeney Troy 2009 Larry Blakeney (2) Troy Rick Stockstill Middle Tennessee 2010 Mario Cristobal FIU 2011 Hugh Freeze Arkansas State 2012 Todd Berry UL Monroe 2013 Joey Jones South Alabama 2014 Willie Fritz Georgia Southern 2015 Trent Miles Georgia State 2016 Paul Petrino Idaho 2017 Neal Brown Troy 2018 Scott Satterfield Appalachian State 2019 Billy Napier Louisiana 2020 Jamey Chadwell Coastal Carolina 2021 Billy Napier (2) Louisiana 2022 Jon Sumrall Troy 2023 Curt Cignetti James Madison 2024 Michael Desormeaux Louisiana 2025 Bob Chesney James Madison Source:
Freshman of the Year Season Player Team 2001 Ja'Mal Branch WR North Texas 2002 Paul Dombrowski QB New Mexico State 2003 Kevin Payne RB UL Monroe 2004 Jamario Thomas RB North Texas 2005 Tyrell Fenroy RB UL Lafayette 2006 Reggie Arnold RB Arkansas State 2007 Giovanni Vizza QB North Texas 2008 T. Y. Hilton WR FIU 2009 Shawn Southward RB Troy 2010 Corey Robinson QB Troy 2011 colspan="3" 2012 J. D. McKissic WR Arkansas State 2013 Elijah McGuire RB UL Lafayette 2014 Taylor Lamb QB Appalachian State 2015 Penny Hart WR Georgia State 2016 Clifton Duck CB Appalachian State 2017 Marcus Jones CB Troy 2018 Marcel Murray RB Arkansas State 2019 Layne Hatcher QB Arkansas State 2020 Grayson McCall QB Coastal Carolina 2021 Montrel Johnson Jr. RB Louisiana 2022 Jared Brown WR Coastal Carolina 2023 Jaylen Raynor QB Arkansas State 2024 Ahmad Hardy RB UL Monroe 2025 Sahir West DL James Madison
Newcomer of the Year Season Player Team 2001 Kevin Galbreath RB North Texas 2002 Jonathan Burke CB Arkansas State 2003 Aubrey Dorisme DE New Mexico State 2004 Dylan Lineberry G North Texas 2005 Aaron Weathers S North Texas 2006 Omar Haugabook QB Troy 2007 Chris Bradwell DT Troy 2008 Levi Brown QB Troy 2009 colspan="3" rowspan="7" 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Aikeem Coleman DE Idaho 2017 Ron LaForce S New Mexico State 2018 Kirk Merritt WR Arkansas State 2019 Kaylon Geiger WR Troy 2020 D'Jordan Strong CB Coastal Carolina 2021 Chase Brice QB Appalachian State 2022 Todd Centeio QB James Madison 2023 Joey Aguilar QB Appalachian State 2024 Braylon Braxton QB Marshall 2025 Camden Brown WR Georgia Southern
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