Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke and Eastern Michigan DE Jose Ramirez headline the 2022 award winners.
The 2022 All-MAC teams and individual awards were revealed by the conference on Wednesday, three days prior to the annual MAC Championship Game in Detroit.
Individual Awards
The individual awards were voted on by the MAC’s 12 head coaches:
- Vern Smith Leadership Award (MAC MVP): Kurtis Rourke, QB, Ohio
- MAC Offensive Player of the Year: Kurtis Rourke, QB, Ohio
- MAC Defensive Player of the Year: Jose Ramirez, DE, Eastern Michigan
- MAC Special Teams Player of the Year: Alex McNulty, K, Buffalo
- MAC Freshman of the Year: Sieh Bangura, RB, Ohio
- MAC Coach of the Year: Tim Albin, Ohio
All-MAC Teams
The MAC released First, Second, and Third team selections:
All-MAC Breakdown by Team – Total (First, Second, Third)
- Toledo – 10 (5, 5, 0)
- Kent State – 9 (4, 3, 2)
- Eastern Michigan – 9 (4, 2, 3)
- Ohio – 9 (4, 1, 4)
- Ball State – 8 (2, 5, 1)
- Central Michigan – 8 (2, 1, 5)
- Buffalo – 7 (3, 1, 3)
- Northern Illinois – 7 (1, 2, 4)
- Miami (OH) – 7 (0, 4, 3)
- Western Michigan – 6 (1, 3, 2)
- Akron – 5 (2, 0, 3)
- Bowling Green – 4 (1, 3, 0)
Additional Notes
- Toledo leads all teams in First Team selections with 5 and overall selections with 10. Toledo also tied for the lead in total selections in 2021 with 11. Four Rockets from last year’s All-MAC teams were selected again in 2022.
- Kurtis Rourke is the first Ohio player to win the Vern Smith Leadership Award recognizing the top player in the MAC. He is the first Ohio player to win MAC Offensive Player of the Year since quarterback Kareem Wilson won in 1996.
- Jose Ramirez is the first Eastern Michigan player to win MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
- Alex McNulty is the first Buffalo player to win MAC Special Teams Player of the Year.
- Sieh Bangura is the first Ohio player to win MAC Freshman of the Year since safety Javon Hagan won in 2016. Hagan is the most recent defensive player to win the award.
- Tim Albin is the first Ohio head coach to win MAC Coach of the Year since his predecessor Frank Solich won in 2006. Solich also won the award in his second year at the helm with a 9-3 record headed into the MAC Championship Game.
- Eastern Michigan guard Sidy Sow and Kent State wide receiver Dante Cephas are the only players to receive First Team All-MAC honors in both 2021 and 2022.
- Eastern Michigan guard Sidy Sow and Buffalo inside linebacker James Patterson are the only active players named All-MAC on three occasions. Sow was Third Team in 2020 and First Team in 2021 and 2022. Patterson was First Team in 2020 and 2021 and Second Team in 2022.
- Seven of Toledo’s 11 defensive starters made either the All-MAC First Team or Second Team.
- All four quarterbacks to qualify for the 2022 All-MAC teams are first time selections.