Georgia football center Drew Bobo and linebacker Chris Cole have each been named one of 12 semifinalists for the 2026 Lombardi Award, The Lombardi Award and Rotary Club of Houston announced Wednesday.
The Lombardi Award is a coveted award given 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.”
To be considered for the Lombardi Award, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:
- Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
- Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
- Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.
- Be eligible to participate in the current season.
Other players named 2026 Lombardi Award semifinalists include Will Echoles (Ole Miss), Xavier Gilliam (Tennessee), Lance Heard (Kentucky), Trevor Lauck (Iowa), Sammy Omosigho (UCLA), Tobi Osunsanmi (Indiana), Kade Pieper (Iowa), Colin Simmons (Texas), Cade Uluave (BYU), and Princewill Umanmielen (LSU).
Finalists for the 2026 Lombardi Award will be announced on November 18 and the winner of the award will be revealed Wednesday, Dec. 9.
The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs are next scheduled to travel to Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, November 7 to take on the No. 10 Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game will be televised by ABC at 7:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).