The trio of Tanzel Smart, Nico Marley and Parry Nickerson carried the Tulane defense the entire season in 2016 and they were recognized for that effort on Wednesday by the coaches from the American Athletic Conference.
Smart and Marley were named first-team All-AAC for the second consecutive season and Nickerson was given second-team honors for the first time in his career.
Smart was the leader for Tulane's defensive line and ended 2016 with 68 tackles, 19 for loss (fourth in the AAC) and 5.5 sacks (eighth in the AAC).
Smart also accepted an invitation to play in the 2017 Reese's Senior Bowl on Jan.