NFF Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Saint John's University senior quarterback Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn.) was named one of 206 semifinalists for the 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy and is a candidate for the 2026 National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments. 

The NFF and College Football Hall of Fame made the announcement Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Feeney is one of 44 student-athletes from NCAA Division III nominated for the Campbell Trophy and one of four nominees from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) for the Campbell Trophy – joining Gustavus Adolphus defensive lineman Max Olson, Bethel wide receiver Albert Rundell and St. Olaf running back Bryon Sauvy.

Since 1995, 25 Johnnies have been nominated for the Campbell Trophy. SJU is the lone program of 658 NCAA schools that play football to have nominated a Campbell Trophy scholar-athlete each of the past 24 seasons.

The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation and up to 16 of the candidates will be named recipients of the prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award. Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have shown outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor and must have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. 

Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program awards $18,000 scholarships that can be used for the honorees' postgraduate education. SJU has produced four NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award winners: defensive lineman Michael Wozniak '22 (2022), linebacker Carter Hanson '17 (2016), linebacker Matt Hawn '06 (2005) and wide receiver Chris Palmer '96 (1995).

The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, members of the College Football Hall of Fame and athletics administrators.

The NFF will announce 12-16 finalists on Oct. 21. Each of them will receive a $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. One of the finalists will be named the winner of the 37th Campbell Trophy during the 68th Annual NFF Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 8 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

An exercise and health science major with a 3.76 GPA, Feeney was a 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honoree and would have been Academic All-MIAC (minimum 3.5 GPA) last fall but was ineligible, due to conference rules, as a transfer student-athlete.

On the field, Feeney was named to the 2025 D3football.com All-Region 6 third team and All-MIAC last fall. He ended the 2025 season 281 of 386 passing for 3,352 yards & 40 touchdowns (to seven interceptions). The .728 completion percentage was good for third in NCAA Division III, while the 40 passing touchdowns were fifth and the pass-efficiency rating of 176.3 was seventh. Feeney was also eighth in Division III in both passing yards (3,352) and points responsible for (240), ninth in completions per game (23.42) and 14th in passing yards per game (279.3 ypg.). He led the MIAC in completion percentage (.767, 204-266) and passing efficiency (192.2), and was second in completions (204), passing yards (2,550) and passing touchdowns (30) in conference play. The .767 completion percentage was a MIAC record and the 192.2 pass-efficiency rating was second all-time to Aaron Syverson's ('24) 199.9 in 2024.

So far in 2026, Feeney has passed for 688 yards and nine touchdowns with a .765 completion percentage (65 of 85) and a 174.7 pass-efficiency rating through the season's first two games. He currently (through Sept. 19) leads Division III in completions per game (32.5), is fifth in completion percentage, seventh in both passing yards per game (344.0) and points responsible for per game (27.0), eighth in passing touchdowns and ninth in total offense (344.0 ypg.).

Off the field, Feeney is in his second year raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Tackle Cancer. The Johnnies raised over $32,000 for St. Jude's last fall, the program's 10th year supporting the organization, as well as $25,000 for Tackle Cancer. SJU has totaled over $192,000 for Tackle Cancer over the last 12 seasons (no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

He is a member of SJU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the second-straight academic year in 2026-27. Feeney volunteered with Special Olympics as a member of SAAC and has served as a football camp counselor back home in the Fargo (N.D.)/Moorhead (Minn.) area each summer since graduating high school. Feeney compiled 92 hours of community service over three years as a football student-athlete at FCS North Dakota.

No. 5 SJU (2-0, 1-0 MIAC) travels to face Augsburg (1-1, 1-0 MIAC) for a noon kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.

SJU's Campbell Trophy Nominees/Honorees Since 1995
2026 - Quarterback Trey Feeney '26
2025 - Defensive Lineman Zach Frank '25
2024 - Quarterback Aaron Syverson '23
2023 - Quarterback Aaron Syverson '23
2022 - Defensive Lineman Michael Wozniak '23 (Finalist and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient)
2021 - Quarterback Chris Backes '21 
2020 - Quarterback Chris Backes '21 
2019 - Quarterback Jackson Erdmann '19 
2018 - Wide Receiver Will Gillach '19 
2017 - Linebacker David Franta '18 
2016 - Linebacker Carter Hanson '17 (Finalist and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient)
2015 - Linebacker Drake Matuska '16 
2014 - Tight End J.T. Ford '15 
2013 - Defensive Back Dylan Graves '14 
2012 - Running Back Stephen Johnson '13 
2011 - Defensive Back Andrew Rotschafer '11 
2010 - Offensive Lineman Jeff Gilbertson '11 
2009 - Defensive Back Dominic Haik '10 
2008 - Running Back Jeff Schnobrich '09 
2007 - Defensive Back John Cloeter '08 
2006 - Linebacker Jamie Steffensmeier '06 
2005 - Linebacker Matt Hawn '06 (Finalist and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient)
2004 - Linebacker Paul Gans '05 
2003 - Wide Receiver Blake Elliott '03
2002 - No Nominee
2001 - Tight End/Punter Zach McBroom '02 
1996-2000 - No Nominee
1995 - Wide Receiver Chris Palmer '96 (Finalist and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient)