Official list of the best college football players of 1966
The1966 All-America college football team is composed ofcollege football players who were selected asAll-Americans by various organizations that choseAll-America college football teams in 1966.
TheNCAA recognizes six selectors as "official" for the 1966 season. They are (1) theAmerican Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) theAssociated Press (AP), (3) theCentral Press Association (CP), (4) theFootball Writers Association of America (FWAA), (5) theNewspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and (6) theUnited Press International (UPI).[ 1] Time [ 2] The Sporting News Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF).[ 3]
The undefeatedNotre Dame andMichigan State teams finished the season ranked #1 and #2, played to a 10–10 tie in the1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game , and dominated the 1966 All-America selections. Notre Dame had six players who received first-team honors: guardTom Regner (AFCA, AP, CP, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF); backNick Eddy (AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, WCFF); defensive endAlan Page (CP, FWAA, NEA, Time, TSN, WCFF); linebackerJim Lynch (AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF); and defensive tacklesPete Duranko (AFCA, UPI) andKevin Hardy (Time, TSN). Michigan State had five: defensive endBubba Smith (AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF); offensive endGene Washington (AFCA, UPI, Time, TSN); running backClint Jones (AP, CP, NEA, Time, TSN, WCFF); defensive back/linebackerGeorge Webster (AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF); and tackle Jerry West (NEA).
Consensus All-Americans [ edit ] The NCAA recognizes 22 players as "consensus" All-Americans for the 1966 season. The following chart identifies the consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.[ 1]
Name Position School Official selectors Number Others Total Jack Clancy End Michigan AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 Jim Lynch Linebacker Notre Dame AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 Loyd Phillips Defensive tackle Arkansas AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 Bubba Smith Defensive end Michigan State AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 Steve Spurrier Quarterback Florida AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 George Webster Defensive back Michigan State AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 10/10 Mel Farr Running back UCLA AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 5/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 9/10 Tom Regner Guard Notre Dame AFCA, AP, CP, NEA, UPI 5/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 9/10 Nick Eddy Running back Notre Dame AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 FN, WCFF 8/10 Ron Yary Tackle USC AFCA, CP, FWAA, UPI 4/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 8/10 Cecil Dowdy Tackle Alabama AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 6/6 WCFF 7/10 Wayne Meylan Middle guard Nebraska AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI 5/6 FN, WCFF 7/10 Alan Page Defensive end Notre Dame CP, FWAA, NEA 3/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 7/10 Nate Shaw Defensive back USC AFCA, NEA, UPI 3/6 FN, Time, TSN, WCFF 7/10 Tom Beier Defensive back Miami (Fla.) AFCA, AP, NEA, UPI 4/6 FN, WCFF 6/10 Jim Breland Center Georgia Tech AFCA, AP, CP, UPI 4/6 FN, WCFF 6/10 Clint Jones Running back Michigan State AP, CP, NEA 3/6 Time, TSN, WCFF 6/10 Paul Naumoff Linebacker Tennessee AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI 4/6 FN, WCFF 6/10 Ray Perkins End Alabama AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA 4/6 FN, WCFF 6/10 LaVerne Allers Guard Nebraska AP, CP, UPI 3/6 FN, WCFF 5/10 John LaGrone Middle guard SMU AFCA, CP, FWAA, NEA 4/6 WCFF 5/10 Tom Greenlee Defensive tackle Washington AFCA, AP, UPI 3/6 WCFF 4/10
Offensive selections [ edit ] Jack Clancy (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1 [split end], UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) Ray Perkins (AFCA [flanker], AP-1, CP-2, FWAA, NEA-1 [safety], UPI-2, FN, WCFF) Gene Washington , Michigan State (College Football Hall of Fame)(AFCA, NEA-2 [split end], UPI-1, Time, TSN) Jim Beirne , Purdue(CP-1) Eppie Barney , Iowa(AP-2 [end]) Larry Gilbert, Texas Tech(AP-2 [end]) Jim Seymour , Notre Dame(CP-2, NEA-2 [flanker], UPI-2, FN) Cecil Dowdy (AFCA [guard], AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, WCFF) Ron Yary (AFCA, AP-2, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) Wayne Mass , Clemson(AFCA, CP-2, UPI-2) Jerry West, Michigan State(NEA-1) Jack Calcaterra, Purdue(AP-2, UPI-2) Reeve Vannaman, Cornell(CP-2) Tom Regner (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) LaVerne Allers (AP-1, CP-1, NEA-2, UPI-1, FN, WCFF) Mo Moorman , Texas A& M(FWAA, NEA-2 [tackle], Time, TSN) Gary Bugenhagen , Syracuse(AP-1 [tackle], FWAA) Bob Hyland , Boston College(CP-2, Time, TSN) Edgar Chandler , Georgia(NEA-1, UPI-2) Lynn Thornhill, Southern Methodist(AP-2) Del Williams , Florida State(AP-2, CP-2, NEA-2, UPI-2) Jim Breland (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, WCFF) Bill Carr , Florida(AP-2, CP-2, Time, TSN) Ray Pryor, Ohio State(FWAA, NEA-2) Bob Johnson , Tennessee (FN)George Goeddeke , Notre Dame(UPI-2) Steve Spurrier (AFCA [tie], AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) Bob Griese , Purdue (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame)(AFCA [tie], AP-2, CP-2, NEA-2, UPI-2, FN) Gary Beban , UCLA (FN)Mel Farr (AFCA, AP-1, CP-2, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN [halfback], Time, TSN, WCFF) Nick Eddy (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1 (FL), UPI-1, FN [halfback], WCFF) Clint Jones (AP-1, CP-1, NEA-1, UPI-2, Time, TSN, WCFF) Floyd Little , Syracuse (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame)(AFCA, AP-2, CP-2, NEA-2, UPI-1, WCFF) Ray McDonald , Idaho(AP-2, NEA-2, UPI-2, Time, TSN) Lenny Snow, Georgia Tech(FWAA, UPI-2, FN [halfback]) Larry Csonka , Syracuse (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame)(CP-1 [fullback], FN [fullback]) Jim Bohl, New Mexico State (FN [halfback]) Warren McVea , Houston (FN [halfback])Bob Apisa , Michigan State (FN [fullback])Larry Conjar , Notre Dame (FN [fullback])Garrett Ford, Sr. , West Virginia(AP-2) Pete Pifer , Oregon State(CP-2 [fullback]) Defensive selections [ edit ] Bubba Smith (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN [end], Time, TSN, WCFF) Alan Page (AP-2, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-2, FN [end], Time, TSN, WCFF) George Foussekis, Virginia Tech(AP-2) Sam Harris, Colorado(CP-2, UPI-2) Billy Anders, Ohio State(CP-2) Dennis Randall , Oklahoma State(NEA-2) Ted Hendricks , Miami (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame)(NEA-2) Loyd Phillips (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI, FN [tackle], Time, TSN, WCFF) Tom Greenlee (AFCA, AP-1 [defensive end], UPI-1 [defensive end], WCFF) Pete Duranko , Notre Dame(AFCA, UPI) Dennis Byrd , North Carolina State (College Football Hall of Fame)(AP-2, NEA-1, FWAA) George Patton, Georgia(AP-1, CP-1, UPI-2, FN [tackle]) Kevin Hardy , Notre Dame(AP-2, UPI-2, FN [tackle], Time, TSN) Bill Stanfill , Georgia (College Football Hall of Fame)(NEA-2) Ed Philpott , Miami (OH)(CP-2, NEA-2) Jim Urbanek , Mississippi(CP-2, FN [tackle]) Wayne Meylan (AFCA [defensive tackle], AP-1, CP-2 [guard], FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN [guard], WCFF) John LaGrone (AFCA [middle guard], AP-2, CP-1 [guard], FWAA, NEA-1 [linebacker], UPI-2, WCFF) John Richardson , UCLA(CP-1 [guard]) Granville Liggins , Oklahoma(CP-2 [guard], NEA-2, FN [guard]) Jim Lynch (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) Paul Naumoff (AFCA, AP-1, CP-2, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-1, FN, WCFF) Bob Matheson , Duke(AP-1, Time, TSN) Townsend Clarke, Army(AP-2, CP-1, NEA-1, UPI-2) Charles Thornhill, Michigan State(AP-2, NEA-2, UPI-2) Adrian Young , Southern California(AP-2) D. D. Lewis , Mississippi State(CP-2) Wayne Purdon, Montana State(CP-2) George Webster (AFCA, AP-1, CP-1 [linebacker], FWAA, NEA-1 [linebacker], UPI-1, FN [linebacker], Time, TSN, WCFF) Nate Shaw (AFCA, AP-2, CP-2, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF) Tom Beier (AFCA, AP-1, CP-2, NEA-1, UPI-1, FN, WCFF) Frank Loria , Virginia Tech(AP-1, FWAA) Martine Bercher , Arkansas(AFCA, UPI-1) Rick Volk , Michigan(Time, TSN) John Charles , Purdue(Time, TSN) Henry King, Utah State(NEA-2, Time, TSN) Bobby Johns , Alabama(CP-1, UPI-2, FN) Wynn Mabry, Dartmouth(CP-1) Larry Wachholtz, Nebraska(AP-2, UPI-2) Chuck Latourette , Rice(AP-2) Bruce Sullivan, Illinois(NEA-2) Bobby Bryant , South Carolina(NEA-2 [safety]) Tom Schoen , Notre Dame(UPI-2) Lynn Hughes, Georgia(UPI-2) Jan Stenerud , Montana State (Pro Football Hall of Fame)(TSN) Bold – Consensus All-American[ 1] -1 – First-team selection -2 – Second-team selection -3 – Third-team selection Unofficial selectors [ edit ] FN =The Football News , consisting of the 34 best players out of the 25,000 men playing college football that year, as selected by the paper's correspondents and staff members[ 10] Time =Time [ 2] TSN =The Sporting News [ 11] WCFF =Walter Camp Football Foundation [ 3] ^a b c "Football Award Winners" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 10. RetrievedOctober 21, 2017 .^a b "As The Pros See Them" .Time . December 9, 1966. Archived fromthe original on October 28, 2010.^a b "Walter Camp Foundation All-American Teams" . Archived fromthe original on March 30, 2009. RetrievedMarch 24, 2009 .^ "Coaches Pick All-Star Team" .Hazleton Standard-Speaker . November 25, 1966. p. 35.^ "untitled" .The Express . December 8, 1966. p. 22.^ Walter Johns (November 30, 1966)."Irish Dominate All-American Elevens" .The Gaffney Ledger . p. 2. ^ Ted Gangi (ed.)."FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF) . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. RetrievedOctober 5, 2015 . ^ Murray Olderman (November 29, 1966)."Irish, Spartans Dominate NEA All-America Team" .Raleigh (WV) Register . p. 8. ^ "United Press names All-American grid teams" .Kokomo (Ind.) Morning Times . December 1, 1966. p. 9.^ "All-America Selected: Seven Notre Dame Players Named to FN 'Dream Squad'The Football News . November 26, 1966. p. 1. ^ "ND, MSU Dominate Sporting News All-America Team With 8 Players" .The Sunday Herald (Provo, UT) . December 4, 1966. p. 16.
