IRVING, Texas — Two Tennessee linebackers are in the running for the top academic honor in college football. On Wednesday the National Football Foundation put Arion Carter of the Vols and Nick Rinaldi of Vanderbilt on its 18-man short list for the William V. Campbell Trophy, an award often called the Academic Heisman.
Making the list puts both players in the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, which carries an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. The group was chosen from a record 206 semifinalists across every NCAA division and the NAIA. One finalist will be named the 37th Campbell Trophy winner live at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and that player will see his scholarship rise to $25,000.
Carter, a Smyrna native and two-year captain, finished his public health degree at Tennessee in August, graduating cum laude in three and a half years with a 3.53 grade-point average. He has been on the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times and hopes to study medicine after football. He is the eighth Vol to become an NFF National Scholar-Athlete and the first since center Brandon Kennedy in 2020. Past Tennessee winners of the trophy are Peyton Manning in 1997 and Michael Munoz in 2004, and Manning surprised Carter with the news in a video after practice.
On the field, Carter leads Tennessee at 7.2 tackles per game and has 204 career stops, including 18.5 for loss. He anchors a defense that ranks first in the SEC and ninth nationally in scoring defense at 14.7 points allowed per game. Off it, he has pledged part of his name, image and likeness earnings for each tackle to a nonprofit that helps young women, raising more than $19,000 through seven games.
Rinaldi, an economics student, carries a 3.97 grade-point average, the best among the 18 finalists. He is one of 14 finalists who have already graduated and one of two who have already earned a master’s degree.
Carter and Rinaldi are two of the seven defensive players among the finalists. Both also played for teams that reached the College Football Playoff.
Section: More Nashville TN sports news
Nashville sports business profiles
Filed under: Nashville TN Sports News
