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Mac Jones named Academic All-America Football Team Member of the Year

Former Alabama Crimson Tide center Landon Dickerson, left, and quarterback Mac Jones. Photo | Getty Image
Former Alabama Crimson Tide center Landon Dickerson, left, and quarterback Mac Jones. Photo | Getty Image

Mac Jones rewrote the NCAA record books on the field last season. He wasn’t bad with his textbooks either. The former Alabama quarterback was named the Football Academic All-American of the Year, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Monday.

Jones and teammate Landon Dickerson were both named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Football First Team. Alabama is one of just three schools to have multiple players earn first-team honors, joining Boise State and Coastal Carolina. The Crimson Tide is also the only team to make the College Football Playoff and have a player earn Academic All-America recognition from this past season.

Jones is the third Alabama player to earn CoSIDA Football Academic All-American of the Year honors, joining Barrett Jones (2012) and Greg McElroy (2010). Jones graduated from Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in December of 2019. He then completed his master’s degree in sports hospitality. He finished both degrees with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

On the field, the starting quarterback earned the Davey O’Brien, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm and Manning awards, setting NCAA single-season records in completion percentage (77.4) and passer efficiency rating (203.06). He also set Alabama’s single-season passing record with 4,500 yards while throwing 41 touchdowns with just four interceptions. Jones was selected No. 15 overall by the New England Patriots in this year’s NFL Draft.

“Mac has the ability to make plays because he’s smart,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in the spring. “He’s accurate. He’s gonna throw the ball to the right place, and he’s gonna always help the offensive team be in the right situation, whether it’s a run or a pass or whatever. So he is really, really smart, but he’s always really well-prepared.

“But I think he analyzes what’s gonna happen before it happens in terms of what the expectation is for him on that particular play, and he has a good visualization of what our players are doing and how the defense is gonna react to it relative to what they do. And I think that’s what helps his decision-making process so that he makes good choices and decisions.”

Dickerson earned his undergraduate degree in sports management in August of 2019 while at Florida State where he graduated Cum Laude in only three years. He continued his education at Alabama, graduating with a master’s in business administration.

Dickerson also served as the leader of Alabama’s offensive line, earning the Rimington Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s top center. He earned an overall blocking grade of 91.3 and finished at 99.6 on all assignments. Dickerson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the No. 37 overall pick in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft.

A total of 25 Alabama football players have now earned Academic All-America recognition with Jones, Johnny Musson and Randy Hall all earning multiple honors. Overall the Tide has tallied 194 CoSIDA Academic All-America certificates across its 21 sports, ranking fifth all-time among Division I schools.

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