National Award Named in Buddy Teevens’ Honor

HANOVER, N.H. — Prior to the FBS National Championship Game Monday night, Peyton Manning revealed on ESPN's College GameDay that a new award will be given out for the first time following the 2024 college football season in honor of the late Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens.

The Buddy Teevens Award will go to a coach who makes a lasting impact on the game of football, on and off the field. Manning detailed some of the innovations Teevens made to preserve and improve college football, including the elimination of tackling from practices to reduce injuries, inspiring the development of a robotic tackling dummy and the hiring of women coaches, two of whom are currently coaching in the NFL — Callie Brownson (Cleveland Browns) and Jennifer King (Washington Commanders).

"Buddy recruited me back when he was at Tulane and I was in high school, then helped us run the Manning Passing Academy ever since we started it back in 1996. He was extremely high-energy, exciting to be around and made everybody around him feel better. He was always thinking about others, as opposed to just himself. He was the most organized person I've ever been around, extremely disciplined, and this is a great way to keep his legacy alive and pay it forward for all he did for so many others."

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a tribute to Teevens at the start of the 2023 NFL Draft, "His impact both on college football and the NFL has been enormous. He has been a leader in making our game safer through breakthrough innovations. He is a pioneer in hiring female coaches, two of whom are currently coaching in the NFL."

Teevens, the all-time winningest football coach in Dartmouth history with 117 victories over 22 seasons, was injured last March when his bike was struck by a pickup truck in Florida. He succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 19.

Three times Teevens was named the New England Coach of the Year, and twice the Ivy League Coach of the Year. As a student-athlete, the member of the Class of '79 was the Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior and also helped the Big Green men's hockey team finish third at the 1979 NCAA Championship. He was voted the Alfred W. Watson Trophy as Dartmouth's outstanding athlete.

The eight Ivy League football teams wore a decal with Teevens' initials on their helmets this fall to demonstrate their continued support for Teevens, his family and the Dartmouth community.

Schedules