Today, the Butkus Foundation announced that its 2015 award winner was Jaylon Smith. He becomes the second Butkus Award winner from Notre Dame since Manti Te’o.
The Butkus Award honors the nation’s top linebacker in professional, college, and high school football. Both Manti (2008, Punahou) and Jaylon (2012, Bishop Luers) won the award in high school. It has been awarded since 1985 in college (Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma) and 2008 in high school (Te’o) and the NFL (DeMarcus Ware).
Jaylon won the award over Georgia’s Leonard Floyd, LSU’s Deion Jones, Ohio State’s Raekwon McMillan, and Alabama’s Reggie Ragland.