By: Cole Mantell (@lightningdragon)
The first ever Players of the Week in CFSL history were two guys most fans likely have never heard of. Ohio State WR Jay Smith won Offensive Player of the Week, while Hawaii’s Larry Taylor Jr won Defensive Player of the Week. While almost any player would prefer their team win over themselves getting honored, the Player of the Week award is unique in the CFSL for a few reasons.
First, since it has been awarded since Season 1, it serves as a snapshot in the history of the league. If you had a team on the list multiple times per season, it almost always indicated a historical trend or record a team was breaking. Second, it also gives you insight into the big names and underrated names of the time. Names such as Isaac Frost and Ryan Moreland dominate the list in certain seasons. But as we will talk about, some names you might not know deserve recognition in those same eras, and this award is one of the only ones in the CFSL that can and has done that.
For some, winning this award is just a stepping stone to greatness. Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of Ryan Moreland. Moreland’s first CFSL game wasn’t good. While he did throw for two passing touchdowns, the 205 passing yards were the 3rd lowest he would ever throw in a game en route to a 31-19 loss to Michigan. Ryan vowed to do better moving forward and made a statement to the league in his Week 2 performance of Season 15. In a 52-3 demolition of WVU, Moreland threw for 500 passing yards and 5 passing touchdowns, running for an additional two rushing touchdowns as well. It would earn him his first of eventually four Player of the Week awards, three of which would come in his freshman season. Those performances were also key in him winning the Season 15 Freshman of the Year and Fan of the Year awards as well.
When reached out for this story, Ryan remembers his Season 15 awards as “crucial to building [Ryan’s] legacy”. He continued, “I became a household name in the CFSL before I ever won a title thanks to winning 3 POTWs as a freshman.” Of course, it wouldn’t be long before people knew the name. Moreland would go on to top the CFSL career records for passing while winning two National Championships along the way. He is a lock for the CFSL Hall of Fame when eligible, and of course, he will be the standard for all great QBs moving forward.
However, I’d argue what makes Player of the Week interesting isn’t when someone like Ryan Moreland wins the award. In Season 15, Week 2, the person opposite Ryan Moreland who won Defensive Player of the Week was a fellow freshman in Pittsburgh DT Collin McDowell. McDowell had 13 tackles, 9 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 1 forced fumble in a close 24-19 win over Georgia. To this day, no one in Pittsburgh history has ever matched McDowell’s 9 TFLs or 4 sacks in a game.
McDowell shocked many, including himself with the performance that won him the award. “Stepping on that field for the second time in my career was exciting as I didn’t expect what happened that night to happen. It wasn’t something I was planning, nor did I even imagine it would happen. But it was awesome and something I hold close because I was the first Pittsburgh Panther to win [Player of the Week].”
When asked if he expected to win that award that week, McDowell added “I didn’t expect to win at all. When my name came up [in voting] I thought that was awesome even to get nominated. When Mike announced it was me I was ecstatic. I couldn’t even believe it. The first thing I did was talk to my buddies about how privileged I was to win the award.”
Of course, unless you are a longtime fan this might be the first you’ve ever heard of McDowell. After his freshman year at Pittsburgh, McDowell would transfer twice, playing his sophomore year at Bowling Green before following his former teammate and then new AD of Texas Justin Duke to finish his final two seasons for the Texas Longhorns.
The final winner I want to highlight is somewhere in the middle of recognizability between Moreland and McDowell. Kai Kohko is well-known to some longtime fans. The former Missouri and Texas QB is probably best known for his volume passing stats, in addition to a career that directly followed the legendary Vito Pipino at Texas. Kohko would win his first Player of the Week in Season 11 with the Tigers, in a win over Tennessee. Then, after coming to Texas, he would win the award twice in Season 13, in wins over WVU and Texas A&M. Thus, Kohko is one of a select few players who have won this award for multiple teams.
“In Season 13 I was on a new team trying to show teams that I was capable of helping Texas after [Pipino] had left. Those performances are what helped attract Delano to come to Texas in Season 14.” For longtime fans and readers, that is the former QB of Texas admitting those awards were a factor in getting the legendary WR Anthony Delano to transfer over to Texas. Delano was recently named a “Mount Rushmore WR” in our series highlighting CFSL legends. Talk about a fateful recruiting push.
While that wasn’t the only factor landing Delano in Texas obviously, Kohko talked a lot in our interview about this recruiting aspect. Now a coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, specifically he talked about how his wins led to him being able to land talent for a reloading Kentucky team this past offseason. Moving forward, he points to examples such as this season when freshman Teddy Legend won Player of the Week in Week 2. He indicated this is a direct line of recruiting he uses when talking to potential players.
What can we learn from all this? Well first, obviously every player interviewed (including a few more who I just didn’t have the space to include) would rather win a National Championship over a Player of the Week award. But while winning a championship might be an ultimate goal, being recognized as the best offensive or defensive player in the league for a week is a huge accomplishment in itself. It can springboard careers, or recruiting pushes. It is a validation of all the hard work a player and staff put in. Most importantly, while only one team wins a championship each season, the 16 players on offense and defense highlighted each regular season serve as a bookmark in each season’s best moments on the path to said championship.
