TCU Football: Coleman, Williams Named To 2023 Lombardi Award Watch List

For the last few weeks, many preseason accolades have been announced for several members of the TCU football team. On Tuesday, two more players were added to the list as offensive lineman Brandon Coleman and defensive lineman Damonic Williams were named to the Lombardi Award Watch List.

The Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability.

Former TCU standout Jerry Hughes, now with the Houston Texans in his 14th NFL season, was a 2009 finalist for the Lombardi Award.

Last year’s award went to Will Anderson Jr of Alabama. Other Big 12 players on this year’s watch list include Kelvin Banks (Texas), Cooper Beebe (Kansas State), Dontay Corleone (Cincinnati), Ethan Downs (Oklahoma), Jaylan Ford (Texas), Zach Frasier (West Virginia), Jaylon Hutchings (Texas Tech), Mike Novitsky (Kansas), Ja’Tavion Sanders (Texas), and Kingsley Suamataia (BYU).

A total of 80 players were named to this year’s preseason watch list. For the complete watch list, click here.

Coleman started all 15 games at left tackle last season, placing third on the TCU offense with 1,036 snaps played. Dating back to the 2021 campaign, he has started 23 of the Horned Frogs' last 24 contests. Pro Football Focus has Coleman as the third-highest-graded returning offensive lineman in the Big 12.

Williams earned Freshman All-America honors and was Honorable-Mention Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year last season. He started all 15 games and made his TCU debut at the age of 17 in the season-opening win at Colorado. He had an immediate impact when he combined on a stop for no gain when the Buffaloes went for it on 4th-and-1 at the TCU 15 on the game's opening series. He totaled 27 tackles on the year, including a career-high six with one for loss in the victory over Oklahoma State. He posted a sack in the 55-24 rout of Oklahoma and 1.5 TFLs with a forced fumble in the 38-28 win over Kansas State.