Wisconsin football: Watch List SZN marches on

We still don’t know if there will even be a college football season but that hasn’t stopped us from having a robust Watch List SZN, per tradition. Two Wisconsin Badgers have been added to watch lists over the past couple of days, including quarterback Jack Coan on the Manning Award list and long snapper Adam Bay on the Mannelly Award one.

Coan has been a mainstay on the preseason awards lists so far, also garnering O’Brien Award and Maxwell Award honors. There is, shamefully, only one award for long snappers so Bay hadn’t been recognized until Monday morning. It should be noted at Bay has never been on this watch list before because the Mannelly Award is only given out to seniors.

Here are the criteria to be eligible for the award from the Mannelly Award website:

The Award is presented to the overall best Long Snapper at the Division I FBS level. The winner must be of senior standing, have started 75% of games in his senior year, snap on punts and placements, and demonstrate a strong mentality, notable athleticism, as well as speed, accuracy and consistency in their snaps.

Long Snappers don’t make the cover of the program. They’re rarely asked to sign autographs. You don’t typically see them being interviewed before the game. But Long Snappers aren’t driven by these things. Quiet, selfless, focused and courageous, the Long Snapper is content to trade conventional superstardom for the opportunity to do one job very well.

Bay has played in all 41 games that Wisconsin has played in during his career and will look to continue that streak this season. We think that Bay has a pretty good chance of taking home this trophy.

Coan is up for the Manning Award which “is the only college football quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting; therefore, it is presented annually following the completion of the bowl season.”

The past winners of the Manning Award are basically a “who’s who” of great college football quarterbacking. Names like Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Tim Tebow, RGIII, Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel and Marcus Mariota have all won the award in the past.