Trevon Young Named Winner of Brian Piccolo Award

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 30, 2017

Louisville senior defensive end Trevon Young has been named the recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2017 Brian Piccolo Award, ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced on Thursday.

The Piccolo Award has been given annually since 1970 in memory of the late Brian Piccolo to the “most courageous” football player in the ACC. As a standout running back at Wake Forest, Piccolo was the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1965 and played for the Chicago Bears before his career was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer. His courageous fight against the disease was an inspiration to the Bears and the entire football community.

Young will be recognized this weekend during activities surrounding the 2017 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, which is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

Young was an integral part of Louisville’s defensive scheme two seasons ago, when he recorded 8.5 sacks and earned honorable mention in All-ACC voting. The Des Moines, Iowa, native had 10 total tackles for loss with an interception and a pair of forced fumbles.

The 2015 season ended in the worst possible way, however, when Young suffered a fractured dislocation of his left hip in the Music City Bowl. He missed all of Louisville’s 2016 football season after undergoing three surgeries, including one to repair a torn labrum.

Young refused to remain on the sidelines, working his way back into playing condition and finally receiving clearance from his doctors to return to the practice field last June. The 6-4, 254-pound Young regained his spot in the Cardinals’ defensive rotation and returned to his familiar role of chasing down opposing quarterbacks. He closed the regular season ranking among the team leaders in total tackles (52), tackles for loss (nine), and quarterback hurries (eight).

Young becomes the first student-athlete from Louisville to claim the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award.

ACC Brian Piccolo Award Winners
1970 Paul Miller, QB, North Carolina
1971 Jim Webster, LB, North Carolina
1972 Mark Johnson, QB, Duke
1973 Al Neville, QB, Maryland
1974 David Visaggio, DG, Maryland
1975 Scott Gardner, QB, Virginia
1976 Jeff Green, DE, Duke
1977 Ralph Stringer, DB, NC State
1978 Rex Varn, DB, Clemson
1979 not available
1980 Jack Cain, DB,Clemson
1981 Aaron Stewart, DB, Duke
1982 Kenny Duckett, WR, Wake Forest
1983 John Piedmonte, OLB,Wake Forest
1984 J.D. Maarleveld, T, Maryland
1985 Danny Burmeister, DB, N. Carolina
1986 Ray Williams, WR, Clemson
1987 no recipient
1988 Jerry Mays, TB, Georgia Tech
1989 Michael Anderson, RB, Maryland
1990 Marc Mays, WR, Duke
1991 Scott Adell, T, NC State
1992 Dan Footman, DE, Florida State
Randy Cuthbert, TB, Duke
1993 Scott Youmans, DL, Duke
1994 Chris Harrison, T, Virginia
1995 Warren Forney, DT, Clemson
1996 John Lewis, RB, Wake Forest
1997 Sam Cowart, LB, Florida State
1998 Anthony Poindexter, DB, Virginia
Corey Simon, DT, Florida State
1999 Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State
2000 Ed Wilder, FB, Georgia Tech
2001 Matt Crawford, T, Maryland
2002 Anquan Boldin, WR, Florida State
2003 Kevin Bailey, OL, Virginia
2004 Frank Gore, RB, Miami
2005 Ryan Best, S, Virginia
2006 Glenn Sharpe, Miami
2007 Matt Robinson, DE, Wake Forest
2008 Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
2009 Toney Baker, RB, NC State
2010 Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College,
Nate Irving, LB, NC State
2011 Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina
2012 Shayon Green, DE, Miami
Chris Thompson, RB, Florida State
2013 Robert Godhigh, RB, Georgia Tech
2014 Duke Johnson, RB, Miami
2015 Hunter Knighton, OL, Miami
2016 James Conner, RB, Pitt
2017 Trevon Young, DE, Louisville