The Heisman Trophy is still the highest individual distinction any college football player could possibly expect to win during his playing career, despite the fact that it is becoming more and more focused on quarterbacks.
The outstanding quarterback on one of the top teams in the nation during a given season usually ends up winning the Heisman Trophy, which is extremely parochial and regionally biased.
Although that is not always the case, it is more than likely. In any case, the Heisman Trophy winner gets to star in some awesome Nissan ads and enters into a very select football brotherhood.
The colleges with the most Heisman Trophy winners in college football history are listed below.
Who has produced the most Heisman Trophy winners in college football?
Three colleges share the distinction of having the most Heisman Trophy winners as of the 2021 college football season. With seven victories each, the Oklahoma Sooners, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are tied.
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7): Angelo Bartelli (QB, 1943), Johnny Lujack (QB, 1947), Leon Hart (END, 1949), Johnny Lattner (HB, 1953), Paul Hornung (QB, 1956), John Huarte (QB, 1964), Tim Brown (WR, 1987)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (7): Les Horvath (HB/QB, 1944), Vic Janowicz (HB/P, 1950), Howard Cassady (HB, 1955), Archie Griffin (HB, 1974-75), Eddie George (RB, 1995), Troy Smith (QB, 2006)
- Oklahoma Sooners (7): Billy Vessels (HB, 1952), Steve Owens (FB, 1969), Billy Sims (RB, 1978), Jason White (QB, 2003), Sam Bradford (QB, 2008), Baker Mayfield (QB, 2017), Kyler Murray (QB, 2018)
The Heisman Trophy has been won by seven different players for Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and just six for Ohio State.
However, running back Archie Griffin is the only athlete to win the award twice, doing so for the Buckeyes in 1974 and 1975. The most recent Heisman winners for these three colleges are Tim Brown (1987), Troy Smith (2006), and Kyler Murray (2018).
With six and four Heisman Trophy winners, respectively, the USC Trojans and Alabama Crimson Tide round out the top five in school history.
- USC Trojans (6)*: Mike Garrett (HB, 1965), O.J. Simpson (HB, 1968), Charles White (RB, 1979), Marcus Allen (RB, 1981), Carson Palmer (QB, 2002), Matt Leinart (QB, 2004)
- Reggie Bush (RB, 2005) was vacated.
- Alabama Crimson Tide (4): Mark Ingram Jr. (RB, 2009), Derrick Henry (RB, 2015), DeVonta Smith (WR, 2020), Bryce Young (QB, 2021)
With seven, the Trojans would have tied for the most in college football history if Reggie Bush’s Heisman from 2005 hadn’t been revoked. Devonta Smith (2020) and Bryce Young, two of the most recent Heisman champions, play at Alabama (2021).
In actuality, Nick Saban was the coach of all of its Heisman winners. Only Young failed to capture a national championship during his Heisman campaign.
Three football players from three different colleges have won the Heisman Trophy. The Army Black Knights, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Michigan Wolverines, and Nebraska Cornhuskers are the six teams mentioned as of this writing.
- Army Black Knights (3): Doc Blanchard (FB, 1945), Glenn Davis (HB, 1946), Pete Dawkins (HB, 1958)
- Auburn Tigers (3): Pat Sullivan (QB, 1971), Bo Jackson (RB, 1985), Cam Newton (QB, 2010)
- Florida Gators (3): Steve Spurrier (QB, 1966), Danny Wuerffel (QB, 1996), Tim Tebow (QB, 2007)
- Florida State Seminoles (3): Charlie Ward (QB, 1993), Chris Weinke (QB, 2000), Jameis Winston (QB, 2013)
- Michigan Wolverines (3): Tom Harmon (HB, 1940), Desmond Howard (WR/PR, 1991), Charles Woodson (CB, 1997)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (3): Johnny Rodgers (WR/RB, 1972), Mike Rozier (RB, 1983), Eric Crouch (QB/WR, 2001)
Despite the fact that the Army will never win another, the five power institutions have all won at least one in recent history.
While Charles Woodson (1997), the only defensive-first athlete to ever win the Heisman, did it in the latter half of the 20th century, Tim Tebow (2007), Cam Newton (2010), and Jameis Winston (2013) all won one this century.
Georgia, LSU, Miami (FL), Navy, Texas, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, and Yale are the only eight teams that have won it twice.
In the illustrious football histories of twenty-one institutions, one Heisman winner can be found: Baylor, BYU, Boston College, Colorado, Chicago, Houston, Iowa, Louisville, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, South Carolina, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, and UCLA.
Surprisingly, none of these eight football programs—Arkansas, Cal, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and West Virginia—has ever produced a Heisman winner.
The only thing we can say with certainty is that the Heisman Trophy will be presented in December.
