The Heisman Memorial Trophy, aka the Heisman, honors the best college football player each year who exhibits excellence in talent, effort, and dedication. It was created in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club and is now awarded by the Heisman Trophy Trust in the first week of December before postseason bowl games.
It was originally meant for the "most valuable college football player east of the Mississippi," but after John Heisman, the club's athletic director, passed away in 1936, the award was renamed in his honor.
This esteemed honor, the first of its type, is one of several illustrious college football honors, including the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and AP Player of the Year.
List of the 163 Heisman Finalists by School, Since 1982
| Number of Finalists | School | Players (Year) |
| 11 | Oklahoma | Brian Bosworth (1986), Josh Heupel (2000), Jason White (2003, 2004), Adrian Petersen (2004), Sam Bradford (2008), Baker Mayfield (2016, 2017), Dede Westbrook (2016), Kyler Murray (2018), and Jalen Hurts (2019) |
| 11 | Alabama | David Palmer (1993), Jay Barker (1994), Mark Ingram (2009), Trent Richardson (2011), AJ McCarron (2013), Amari Cooper (2014), Derrick Henry (2015), Tua Tagovailoa (2018), Mac Jones (2020), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2021) |
| 10 | Ohio State | Keith Byars (1984), Eddie George (1995), Orlando Pace (1996), Troy Smith (2006), Dwayne Kaskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), Chase Young (2019), and C.J. Stroud (2021, 2022), Marvin Harrison Jr. (2023) |
| 9 | Miami (FLA) | Bernie Kosar (1984), Vinny Testaverde (1985, 1986), Steve Walsh (1988), Gino Torretta (1992), Warren Sapp (1994), Ken Dorsey (2001, 2002), and Willis McGahee (2002) |
| 8 | Florida | Emmitt Smith (1989), Danny Wuerffel (1995, 1996), Rex Grossman (2001), Tim Tebow (2007, 2008, 2009), and Kyle Trask (2020) |
| 6 | Stanford | John Elway (1982), Toby Gerhart (2009), Andrew Luck (2010, 2011), Christian McCaffrey (2015), and Bryce Love (2017) |
| 6 | Michigan | Jim Harbaugh (1986), Desmond Howard (1991), Charles Woodson (1997), Chris Perry (2003), Jabrill Peppers (2016), and Aidan Hutchinson (2021) |
| 6 | USC | Rodney Peete (1988), Carson Palmer (2002), Matt Leinart (2004, 2005), Reggie Bush (2004), and Caleb Williams (2022) |
| 5 | BYU | Steve Young (1983), Robbie Bosco (1984, 1985), and Ty Detmer (1990, 1991) |
| 5 | Notre Dame | Tim Brown (1987), Tony Rice (1989), Raghib Ismail (1990), Brady Quinn (2006), and Manti Te’o (2012) |
| 5 | Penn State | D.J. Dozier (1986), Blair Thomas (1989), Ki-Jana Carter (1994), Kerry Collins (1994), and Larry Johnson (2002) |
| 4 | Florida State | Casey Weldon (1991), Charlie Ward (1993), Chris Weinke (2000), and Jameis Winston (2013) |
| 4 | Nebraska | Mike Rozier (1983), Tommie Frazier (1995), Eric Crouch (2001), and Ndamukong Suh (2009) |
| 4 | Oregon | Joey Harrington (2001), LaMichael James (2010), and Marcus Mariota (2014), Bo Nix (2023) |
| 4 | Texas | Ricky Williams (1998), Vince Young (2005), and Colt McCoy (2008, 2009) |
| 3 | Auburn | Bo Jackson (1985), Cam Newton (2010), and Tre Mason (2013) |
| 3 | Boston College | Doug Flutie (1983, 1984), and Andre Williams (2013) |
| 3 | Clemson | Deshaun Watson (2015, 2016), and Trevor Lawrence (2020) |
| 3 | Colorado | Darian Hagan (1989), Eric Bieniemy (1990), and Rashaan Salaam (1994) |
| 3 | Georgia | Herschel Walker (1982), Garrison Hearst (1992), and Stetson Bennett (2022) |
| 3 | LSU | Tyrann Mathieu (2011), Joe Burrow (2019), Jayden Daniels(2023) |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | Craig Heyward (1987), Larry Fitzgerald (2003), and Kenny Pickett (2021) |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Ron Dayne (1999), Montee Ball (2011), and Melvin Gordon (2014) |
| 2 | Arkansas | Darren McFadden (2006, 2007) |
| 2 | Houston | Andre Ware (1989), David Klingler (1990) |
| 2 | Iowa | Chuck Long (1985), Brad Banks (2002) |
| 2 | Iowa State | Troy Davis (1995, 1996) |
| 2 | Kansas State | Michael Bishop (1998), Collin Klein (2012) |
| 2 | Louisville | Lamar Jackson (2016, 2017) |
| 2 | Marshall | Randy Moss (1997), Chad Pennington (1999) |
| 2 | Michigan State | Lorenzo White (1985, 1987) |
| 2 | Purdue | Drew Brees (1999, 2000) |
| 2 | TCU | LaDainian Tomlinson (2000), Max Duggan (2022) |
| 2 | Tennessee | Heath Shuler (1993), Peyton Manning (1997) |
| 2 | Texas A&M | ohnny Manziel (2012, 2013) |
| 2 | UCLA | Troy Aikman (1988), Cade McNown (1997) |
| 2 | West Virginia | Major Harris (1988, 1989) |
| 1 | Air Force | Dee Dowis (1989) |
| 1 | Alcorn State | Steve McNair (1994) |
| 1 | Arizona State | Jake Plummer (1996) |
| 1 | Baylor | Robert Griffin III (2011) |
| 1 | Boise State | Kellen Moore (2010) |
| 1 | Georgia Tech | Joe Hamilton (1999) |
| 1 | Hawaii | Colt Brennan (2007) |
| 1 | Holy Cross | Gordie Lockbaum (1987) |
| 1 | Indiana | Anthony Thompson (1989) |
| 1 | Kentucky | Tim Couch (1998) |
| 1 | Mississippi | Eli Manning (2003) |
| 1 | Missouri | Chase Daniel (2007) |
| 1 | Northern Illinois | Jordan Lynch (2013) |
| 1 | Northwestern | Darnell Autry (1995) |
| 1 | Oklahoma State | Barry Sanders (1988) |
| 1 | San Diego State | Marshal Faulk (1992) |
| 1 | SMU | Eric Dickerson (1982) |
| 1 | Syracuse | Don McPherson (1987) |
| 1 | Temple | Paul Palmer (1986) |
| 1 | Utah | Alex Smith (2004) |
| 1 | Virginia | Shawn Moore (1990) |
| 1 | Virginia Tech | Michael Vick (1999) |
| 1 | Washington | Steve Emtman (1991) |
| 1 | Washington State | Ryan Leaf (1997) |
| 1 | Washington Huskies | Michael Penix Jr(2023) |
FAQs
A. The Heisman Trophy is an annual award that honors the best college football player each year.
A. The Heisman Trophy was created in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club.
A. Oklahoma and Alabama share the record for having the most Heisman finalists, with 11 finalists each.
A. The Heisman Trophy is now awarded by the Heisman Trophy Trust.
A. Ohio State and Miami have had nine finalists since 1982, making them the schools with the second-highest number of finalists.
