The week leading up to Bowl games can be the longest of the year for college football fans as they continue to count down towards this year’s postseason and an impressive list of Bowl matchups that begin this Saturday. However, a lot has happened in that one week including a surprising hire at Ohio State and the Heisman trophy award being handed to the most dominant running back in college football this season. Here is a quick recap of this week’s most important news and notes from around the college football world.
Derrick Henry Wins The Heisman Trophy
Alabama running back Derrick Henry was awarded this year’s Heisman trophy after an outstanding campaign in which he ran for an all-time SEC-best 1,986 yards and a conference record-tying 23 touchdowns on 339 carries to help the Crimson Tide win another SEC championship and book their spot in the College Football Playoff for the second season in a row. Henry was considered the favorite going in to the voting after dominating down the final stretch of the season and the votes supported him as he finished ahead of Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in the voting.
| Player | School | First Place | Second Place | Third Place | Total |
| Derrick Henry | Alabama | 378 | 277 | 144 | 1,832 |
| Christian McCaffrey | Stanford | 290 | 246 | 177 | 1,539 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson | 148 | 240 | 241 | 1,165 |
| Baker Mayfield | Oklahoma | 34 | 55 | 122 | 334 |
| Keenan Reynolds | Navy | 20 | 17 | 86 | 180 |
| Leonard Fournette | LSU | 10 | 25 | 30 | 110 |
| Dalvin Cook | Florida State | 7 | 18 | 22 | 79 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Ohio State | 5 | 7 | 28 | 57 |
| Connor Cook | Michigan State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| Trevone Boykin | TCU | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
Greg Schiano Joins Meyer At Ohio State As Defensive Coordinator
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the week was the news that former NFL head coach Greg Schiano would join Urban Meyer as the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State. Schiano is an excellent choice to fill the role for the Buckeyes but what’s so shocking is the fact that Meyer was able to bring him in right away without any questions asked and sign him to a long-term deal. Schiano was widely considered one of the top candidates to fill a vacant head coaching position somewhere in the country this offseason but he never made anyone’s final cut. There were so many vacancies that many people figured he’d get a look but he’ll have to repair his reputation at Ohio State first. The fact that he signed with Ohio State so quickly is pretty impressive.
Navy Head Coach Niumatalolo Will Meet With The BYU Cougars
Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo confirmed this week that he will meet with BYU in regards to their vacant head coaching position following Bronco Mendenhall’s final game this weekend. Niumatalolo talked openly about loving the Navy and everything it stands for but he does belong to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” and he talked openly about how important his faith is to him. He also runs the triple-option, which BYU is familiar with, so it wouldn’t be a shock at this point it he does end up leaving Navy to take the post. It would be a sizable step up in his career and he might be ready for a change.
The Texas Longhorns Gets Its Man
The Longhorns got a busy offseason underway with the hiring of what they hope will be the man to repair their offense. They announced the addition of offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, who had previously been with Tulsa. This signals the start of a long road to turning things around following a 5-7 season. Head coach Charlie Strong confirmed that he would like to overhaul his offense in order to build a more prolific attack and Gilbert was brought in on a three-year deal to do exactly that at Texas. The Longhorns also hired former Tulsa coach Matt Mattox as their offensive line coach and run-game coordinator as another piece of their revamped coaching staff on that side of the football.
