So when the KFCA originally announced that they were going to start awarding a Mr. Football award each year, they didn't offer an official list of criteria for how they would come up with their finalists to vote amongst. A couple of years later they told the Lexington Herald-Leader that all players winning district and class player of the year awards were finalists, which presented the problem of having juniors as finalists for the award.

The year before last there was no official list of finalists circulated publicly, and then last year they had 9 finalists announced for the Mr. Football award, but again they didn't offer any criteria for players making the list.

We're all more than interested at this point in the year to see what the list of finalists will be...and that remains to be seen, but the KFCA has now listed their district players of the year for this year. Class-wide players of the year will be announced at the state finals, and I've listed the district players of the year below, with non-seniors shown in red. 

2024 KFCA Class 1A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Tyson Martin, Caverna (Junior)
D2: Kace Eastridge, Campbellsville (Junior)
D3: Kaleb Cole, Newport Central Catholic (Senior)
D4: Dameyn Anness, Ludlow (Junior)
D5: Brock Coffman, Sayre (Senior)
D6: Linden Sammons, Raceland (Senior)
D7: Nate Goodin, Williamsburg (Senior)
D8: Brenden Anthony, Pikeville (Senior)

2024 KFCA Class 2A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Ian Williams, Mayfield (Senior)
D2: Brady Atwell, Owensboro Catholic (Senior)
D3: Travis Wood, Monroe County (Senior)
D4: Saxton Howard, Lexington Christian Academy (Senior)
D5: Clay Hayden, Beechwood (Senior)
D6: Josh Bruner, Somerset (Senior)
D7: Dalton Elliott, Prestonsburg (Senior)
D8: Brady Johnson, Shelby Valley (Junior)

2024 KFCA Class 3A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Jarren Johnson, Union County (Senior)
D2: Brenan Griffin, Hart County (Senior)
D3: Cortez Stone, Central (Senior)
D4: Malachi Simmons, Garrard County (Senior)
D5: Kaleb Evans, Lloyd Memorial (Junior)
D6: Elijah Hankins: Russell (Senior)
D7: Kaleb Miller, Bell County (Junior)
D8: Jax Niece, Estill County (Senior)

2024 KFCA Class 4A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Jack James, Paducah Tilghman (Senior)
D2: Cavalli Pittman, John Hardin (Junior)
D3: Jordan Robertson, Doss (Senior)
D4: Ray Matthews, Henry County (Senior)
D5: Cash Harney, Covington Catholic (Junior)
D6: Tyson Sammons, Greenup County (Senior)
D7: Montavin Quisenberry, Boyle County (Senior)
D8: Kade Elam, Corbin (Senior)

2024 KFCA Class 5A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Evan Hampton, Owensboro (Junior)
D2: Deuce Bailey, Bowling Green (Senior)
D3: Micheal Curry, Atherton (Senior)
D4: Kadin Hanshaw, Grayson County (Sophomore)
D5: Justus Wertzler, Woodford County (Senior)
D6: Wyatt Hatfield, Conner (Senior)
D7: Jaimen Caba, Montgomery County (Junior)
D8: Harris Denmyer, Pulaski County (Senior)

2024 KFCA Class 6A District Player Of The Year Winners:
D1: Cooper Falconite, McCracken County (Senior)
D2: Tate Spillman, Barren County (Senior)
D3: Marlon Harbin, St. Xavier (Junior)
D4: Antonio Harris, Male (Senior)
D5: Miller Brown, Oldham County (Senior)
D6: Jacob Savage, Ryle (Junior)
D7: BJ Evans, Tates Creek (Junior)
D8: Aveion Chenault, Frederick Douglass (Senior)

Devils advocate, but is it possible to win class wide player of the year, but not win district player of the year?  Same question for Mr. Football.

7 hours ago, Unrivaled97 said:

Devils advocate, but is it possible to win class wide player of the year, but not win district player of the year?

Same question for Mr. Football.

The KFCA selects class-wide players of the year from among the district players of the year. So the answer there is no, it's not possible to win class-wide POY without first winning district POY.

As far as Mr. Football goes...that one is unclear since the KFCA seems to flip around as far as who their eligible finalists are and what their list of criteria are on how coaches should vote for the Mr. Football winner.

Just now, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

The KFCA selects class-wide players of the year from among the district players of the year. So the answer there is no, it's not possible to win class-wide POY without first winning district POY.

As far as Mr. Football goes...that one is unclear since the KFCA seems to flip around as far as who their eligible finalists are and what their list of criteria are on how coaches should vote for the Mr. Football winner.

Truth be told, I'm pretty disappointed by the KFCA's lack of transparency for Mr. Football criteria and of their voting.

One of the biggest issues with the AP's administration of the Kentucky Mr. Football award was the fact that following the introduction of the award and the first couple years ot was awarded, the criteria of what made a Mr. Football winner Mr. Football effectively disappeared. And when that went away, it wasn't long before people started eyerolling about the award because it became more and more apparent that it wasn't a whole lot more than popularity contest among AP sportswriters. And no one even knew who those AP sportswriters were, aside from the small handful who openly acknowledged that "Hey, I just voted for Mr. Football. And these were the finalists."

Now here we are, 6 or 7 years into the process of the KFCA starting their Mr. Football award. The AP has now stopped awarding it, essentially handing Mr. Football over to the KFCA. And it's like complete deja vu: The Mr. Football award was introduced. Guidelines were maybe a little sketchy at first, but they were there. Then suddenly it became clear that thet weren't doing things according to the original guidelines....and there was a little bit of an explanation given for the changes, but it didn't seem to explain things completely. Then it became evident that things weren't being done the way they were explained after the changes were introduced. But no explanations have been given:

1.) What are the guidelines for establishing the finalists each year? At this point, who knows.

2.) Is the award open to seniors only? Probably, but that hasn't been made clear.

3.) How many coaches are actually voting year-to-year on Mr. Football? That information has never been disclosed.

20 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Truth be told, I'm pretty disappointed by the KFCA's lack of transparency for Mr. Football criteria and of their voting.

One of the biggest issues with the AP's administration of the Kentucky Mr. Football award was the fact that following the introduction of the award and the first couple years ot was awarded, the criteria of what made a Mr. Football winner Mr. Football effectively disappeared. And when that went away, it wasn't long before people started eyerolling about the award because it became more and more apparent that it wasn't a whole lot more than popularity contest among AP sportswriters. And no one even knew who those AP sportswriters were, aside from the small handful who openly acknowledged that "Hey, I just voted for Mr. Football. And these were the finalists."

Now here we are, 6 or 7 years into the process of the KFCA starting their Mr. Football award. The AP has now stopped awarding it, essentially handing Mr. Football over to the KFCA. And it's like complete deja vu: The Mr. Football award was introduced. Guidelines were maybe a little sketchy at first, but they were there. Then suddenly it became clear that thet weren't doing things according to the original guidelines....and there was a little bit of an explanation given for the changes, but it didn't seem to explain things completely. Then it became evident that things weren't being done the way they were explained after the changes were introduced. But no explanations have been given:

1.) What are the guidelines for establishing the finalists each year? At this point, who knows.

2.) Is the award open to seniors only? Probably, but that hasn't been made clear.

3.) How many coaches are actually voting year-to-year on Mr. Football? That information has never been disclosed.

I agree. Last year I would have thought Tutt Carrico would have been a finalist. Wasn’t even nominated!!

18 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Truth be told, I'm pretty disappointed by the KFCA's lack of transparency for Mr. Football criteria and of their voting.

One of the biggest issues with the AP's administration of the Kentucky Mr. Football award was the fact that following the introduction of the award and the first couple years it was awarded, the criteria of what made a Mr. Football winner Mr. Football effectively disappeared. And when that went away, it wasn't long before people started eyerolling about the award because it became more and more apparent that it wasn't a whole lot more than popularity contest among AP sportswriters. And no one even knew who those AP sportswriters were, aside from the small handful who openly acknowledged that "Hey, I just voted for Mr. Football. And these were the finalists."

Now here we are, 6 or 7 years into the process of the KFCA starting their Mr. Football award. The AP has now stopped awarding it, essentially handing Mr. Football over to the KFCA. And it's like complete deja vu: The Mr. Football award was introduced. Guidelines were maybe a little sketchy at first, but they were there. Then suddenly it became clear that thet weren't doing things according to the original guidelines....and there was a little bit of an explanation given for the changes, but it didn't seem to explain things completely. Then it became evident that things weren't being done the way they were explained after the changes were introduced. But no explanations have been given:

1.) What are the guidelines for establishing the finalists each year? At this point, who knows.

2.) Is the award open to seniors only? Probably, but that hasn't been made clear.

3.) How many coaches are actually voting year-to-year on Mr. Football? That information has never been disclosed.

So we don't know who is eligible for the award, we don't know what qualifies someone to be a finalist for the award, we don't know what makes the winner the winner, and we don't know who all is voting for the award. That's not a good look. Actually that's a straight up bad look.

Maybe the better title for this thread is "Is the Mr. Football award already as bad with the KFCA running the show as it was when the AP ran it?"

1 hour ago, TylerDurden said:

So we don't know who is eligible for the award, we don't know what qualifies someone to be a finalist for the award, we don't know what makes the winner the winner, and we don't know who all is voting for the award. That's not a good look. Actually that's a straight up bad look.

Maybe the better title for this thread is "Is the Mr. Football award already as bad with the KFCA running the show as it was when the AP ran it?"

Ouch.

1 hour ago, TylerDurden said:

So we don't know who is eligible for the award, we don't know what qualifies someone to be a finalist for the award, we don't know what makes the winner the winner, and we don't know who all is voting for the award. That's not a good look. Actually that's a straight up bad look.

Maybe the better title for this thread is "Is the Mr. Football award already as bad with the KFCA running the show as it was when the AP ran it?"

I see what you are saying but are there arguments against the winners since the KFCA took it over?  I think I would rather have coaches choosing it vs the AP. 

9 minutes ago, 55RedDog said:

I see what you are saying but are there arguments against the winners since the KFCA took it over?  I think I would rather have coaches choosing it vs the AP. 

I feel like I used to have a really similar argument with my algebra 2 teacher in high school when she would dock my grade for not showing my work. If I came up with the right answer, why did I have to show my work?

Specific to the Mr. Football award though, I think a lot of the prominence of the award itself is knowing what goes into winning it. Is it about one season of play, or about a career? Was the winner matched up against all players in the state, or just the seniors in the state? Why are there hardly ever any linemen who get the award? Plus, is it more impressive when someone is called "the best in the state" when he only has one coach saying so, or is it more impressive if he has a majority among 15 different coaches saying he's the best in the state? Or how about if he has a majority among 60 coaches? The fact is by not being transparent about what it takes to win the award, the KFCA is watering down the award.

I don't disagree with you about it being better to have the coaches choosing the winner instead of the AP, but I think the bigger question is why in the world is it hard for the coaches to come out and give a simple statement about how the winner is selected? And somebody is obviously tallying up the votes to determine the winner. Why then is it secret how many people are voting on the winner? The fact that the coaches are either neglecting to be forthright about their process, or worse are hiding their process, is what makes people end up looking at the award with suspicion.

CWB pointed it out, the coaches have only been at this for a small handful of years and they've already gone from at least appearing to be transparent about the process to being conspicuously off the record about their methodology. So what happens when they inevitably do come up with a winner who isn't such an obvious pick? More silence? Towards the end of the AP Mr. Football there were AP writers who came out and said they were intentionally not voting on the award because they didn't know what criteria they were supposed to be using to make their vote. If the KFCA isn't forthcoming publicly about those criteria, then what is supposed to make me confident that they're being clear to their coaches what the criteria are? Are we confident that every coach in the state knows what criteria they're voting on when they cast their vote for Mr. Football? And if the coaches do all know what those criteria are, then why has it already been years since someone has been able to tell us confidently what the criteria are for Mr. Football?

1 hour ago, 55RedDog said:

I see what you are saying but are there arguments against the winners since the KFCA took it over?  I think I would rather have coaches choosing it vs the AP. 

I completely agree with you that we're better off with the coaches running the Mr. Football award than we are with the AP running it...especially with the diminishing amount of resources we see most newspapers putting into prep sports coverage. And I agree, the coaches have done a pretty solid job of getting it right with their Mr. Football selections so far.

2 hours ago, TylerDurden said:

If the KFCA isn't forthcoming publicly about those criteria, then what is supposed to make me confident that they're being clear to their coaches what the criteria are? Are we confident that every coach in the state knows what criteria they're voting on when they cast their vote for Mr. Football? And if the coaches do all know what those criteria are, then why has it already been years since someone has been able to tell us confidently what the criteria are for Mr. Football?

This is an interesting point being made. It should be a pretty easy task to come out and say what the parameters are for selecting Mr. Football. And from what I have seen, the KFCA is generally really good at communicating among all the coaches around the state, so my assumption is that the coaches do understand the assignment when it comes to casting their ballots.

@ChiefSmoke @coachhawk @Coach Preston, I'm not sure what level of involvement you guys have with the KFCA, but any chance that any of you three have any insight here? In my mind, the biggest question here is how the finalists are established for the Mr. Football award, and then after that, what (if any) additional guidelines are given for coaches to vote between the finalists...like should votes be cast based on career performances or single-year performances?

Guys-

 

These are the instructions we were given on the ballot for the 2023 Mr. Football Award:

Please vote for the top choice (you may vote for own). The player receiving the most votes will be the “2023 KFCA Mr. Football.”
To be KFCA Mr. Football, A School is NOT required to join the KFCA.

 

 

6 hours ago, ChiefSmoke said:

Guys-

 

These are the instructions we were given on the ballot for the 2023 Mr. Football Award:

Please vote for the top choice (you may vote for own). The player receiving the most votes will be the “2023 KFCA Mr. Football.”
To be KFCA Mr. Football, A School is NOT required to join the KFCA.

There's nothing there about how finalists are selected for the award, who picks the finalists, or what criteria coaches should use to decide on their votes for Mr. Football. So that seems about as clear as mud.

I’m gonna say it comes down to:

Atwell

Jarren Johnson

Quisenberry

Jack James

And I’m guessing one of the QBs wins it especially if they win a state title.

With that being said, I would still personally go with Quisenberry.

Our first season of the podcast was 2022 and these guys were sophomores. We said these guys would be the Mr. Football candidates in 2024:

2024 Mr. Football Candidates:

Deuce Bailey , Brady Atwell, Montavin Quisenberry, Cortez Stone, Austin Alexander, Antonio Harris ,  Bryce Button