Defensive end wins Hendricks Award
While some students have their minds turned to finals and the last week of class, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is traveling around the country.
The sophomore added two more honors to his long list on Wednesday, winning the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award and SEC Defensive Player of the Year as voted on by the league’s coaches.
“I’m pretty happy about it,” Clowney said in a South Carolina athletics video. “That’s pretty big to know that I’m chosen out of all of the guys in the SEC. It’s not easy to play in and it’s the toughest conference in all of college football. It’s pretty exciting.”
Clowney was a unanimous selection to the Associated Press All-SEC first team, but was beat out for the media’s SEC Defensive Player of the Year award by Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones. On Monday night, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o beat out both SEC defenders for the Nagurski Award at a Charlotte ceremony.
Clowney is second in the nation in sacks (13.0) and tackles for loss (21.5), both single-season USC records. He is a first team All-American as selected by the American Football Coaches Association, and is a finalist for the Lombardi and Bednarik awards.
He was in Houston on Wednesday night for the Lombardi Award announcement.
“It’s been pretty hectic,” Clowney said. “I’m enjoying myself.”
Joining Clowney in taking home hardware, wide receiver Ace Sanders was named the SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Year by the league’s coaches, sharing the honor with Florida’s Caleb Sturgis. Both Sanders and Clowney are the first USC players to win SEC superlatives since the Gamecocks joined the league in 2002.
Sanders set the South Carolina single-season record for punt return yards with 363. He was the top punt returner in the SEC, averaging 14.5 yards per return, with seven returns of 27 yards or more. He was named to the All-SEC coaches’ first team as a punt returner and to the second team as an all-purpose player.
Senior center T.J. Johnson and safety D.J. Swearinger were also selected to the coaches’ second team.
SEC coaches' superlatives
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Ace Sanders, South Carolina
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Barrett Jones, Alabama
JACOBS BLOCKING TROPHY
Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M
CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Will Muschamp, Florida