CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Seven Atlantic Coast Conference linebackers were named to the 2024 Butkus Award Preseason Watch List on Tuesday, August 13. The Butkus Award recognizes the top defensive linebacker in college football.

The award is named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus and is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports several health and wellness activities including the "I Play Clean" anti-steroid program.

The 51 linebackers named to the watch list is a nod to the storied “51” pro jersey won by the award’s namesake, the late Dick Butkus. His tenacious leadership from the middle linebacker position earned him acclaim by NFL Films as the greatest defensive player in football history.

The linebackers representing the ACC on the prestigious preseason watch list are Barrett Carter of Clemson, Francisco Mauigoa of Miami, Power Echols of North Carolina, Sean Brown of NC State, Gaethan Bernadel of Stanford, Marlowe Wax of Syracuse and Sam Brumfield of Virginia Tech.
 
Last year’s Butkus Award winner was the 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year in NC State linebacker Payton Wilson who went on to be the third-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 NFL Draft.
 
The semifinalists for the 40th award are expected to be named on November 4, with finalists named on November 25 and the winner named by December 10. Appearing on the watch list is not a requirement to win the award. The 2024 Butkus Award winners at the high school, college and pro level will be honored at an event planned for early 2025 at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois as part of the Big Ten Network television special.
 
The 51-person Butkus Award selection committee comprised of coaches, scouts and journalists guides the selection process emphasizing qualities that defined Dick Butkus’ career: toughness, on-field leadership, competitiveness, football character and linebacking skills. The Award is increasingly focused on recognizing linebackers who consistently play off the ball on their feet in a two-point stance in traditional form.
 
ACC Representatives on the 2024 Butkus Award Preseason Watch List:
 
Name, School, Class, Position
Barrett Carter, Clemson, Senior, LB
Francisco Mauigoa, Miami, Senior, LB
Power Echols, North Carolina, Senior, LB
Sean Brown, NC State, Redshirt Junior, LB
Gaethan Bernadel, Stanford, Senior, LB
Marlowe Wax, Syracuse, Senior, LB
Sam Brumfield, Virginia Tech, Redshirt Senior, LB
 
ACC Football Notes

• The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Thomas Castellanos at Boston College, Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Grayson Loftis at Duke, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Preston Stone at SMU, and Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, and transfers DJ Uiagalelei at Florida State, Tyler Shough at Louisville, Cam Ward at Miami, Grayson McCall at NC State, and Kyle McCord at Syracuse among others.
  • ACC had 10 quarterbacks named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
  • ACC had eight quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
  • ACC has the top-ranked group of quarterback transfers in 2024 by CBS Sports.
  • 13 QBs in the league enter the 2024 season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3,500 career passing yards.
  • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools are projected to start Week 1 in the 2024 NFL season — 25 percent of NFL teams.
  • Since 2018, the ACC has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts — the only conference to do that.
• The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most challenging in the country.
  • 27 games against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame, the most of any conference.
  • Nine non-conference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the most of any conference.
  • 10 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25, the most of any conference.
• ACC Features Elite Coaching Leadership
  • Six ACC head coaches were named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl, no other conference had more.
  • Two of the three active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC - Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. North Carolina’s Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.
• The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About the Butkus Award
Instituted in 1985, The Butkus Award® is one of the elite individual honors, originally given each year to one player in college football: the most impactful linebacker in the game. In 2008, The Butkus Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, took stewardship of the award to fully realize the original purpose of honoring athletic achievement and service to the community. Since that time, the award has honored the nation’s best high school, college, and professional linebackers. An independent Butkus Award Selection Committee conducts the selection process each year. The committee is comprised of 51 experts, including professional, college, and high school scouts, and prominent sports journalists.
 
About the NCFAA
Founded in 1997, the National College Football Awards Association includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
 
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, in its 72nd year and 18 members strong, stands as one of the most competitive and revered intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are dedicated to upholding the league's founding values of academic excellence, athletic competition at the highest level, and integrity. The ACC supports 28 NCAA sports, with 15 for women and 13 for men, and its member institutions span 12 states. In August 2019, the ACC and ESPN partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network exclusively devoted to ACC sports and original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow the ACC on Instagram (@accsports), Twitter (@theACC) and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).