Country United States First awarded 1995 | Presented by STATS LLC Official website www.fcs.football | |
Awarded for most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision Currently held by Karter Schult, Northern Iowa | ||
The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was designated solely for offensive players.
It was named in honor of the late National Football League (NFL) player Junious "Buck" Buchanan, who starred at Grambling State University. Buchanan was an All-American defensive lineman and the first overall pick in the 1963 American Football League (AFL) Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Up until 2015, the Payton and Buchanan Awards were awarded by The Sports Network. Since STATS LLC acquired The Sports Network in February 2015, it has presented all of the major FCS awards. Through the 2011 season, the awards were presented the night before the NCAA Division I Football Championship, but the 2012 awards were presented on December 17, nearly three weeks before that season's championship game. Only one school, Cal Poly has won the award three (3) times, 2004–2006. Appalachian State, 1995–1996, Eastern Washington, 2008 and 2010, James Madison, 2001 and 2009, and Montana State, 2012-2013, are the only schools to win the award twice (2). Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State University is the only player to win the award twice (2).