Each year since 1987, the Mid-American Conference’s top football player has been presented with the Vern Smith Leadership Award. The award, initiated by the Downtown Athletic Club of Toledo in 1987, re-named after former University of Toledo Athletics Director Vern Smith in 1987, was originally started in 1982 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Toledo as the Jefferson Award. The winner of the Vern Smith Leadership Award is selected from a pool of one nominee from each school. Each nominee is placed on a ballot to be voted on by the head coaches. Ohio
Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. was tabbed the winner of the 43rd Vern Smith Leadership Award. Fannin was the first tight end in FBS history to be named an overall Player of the Year for a conference. Additionally, Fannin is the sixth Falcon to win the honor all-time and the first since Matt Johnson in 2015. BGSU ranks No. 2 all-time in Vern Smith Leadership Award winners with six. Fannin is the 10th Falcon to be named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and the first since Johnson in 2015. No other MAC school has as many MAC Offensive Player of the Year winners as BGSU.
Fannin had a prolific 2024 season for the Falcons. His 117 receptions and 1,555 receiving yards not only led the nation but also set all-time FBS single-season records for a tight end. He led all tight ends nationally in over 105 statistical categories and ranked first among all receivers in more than 20. Fannin became BGSU's first-ever consensus All-American, earning first-team honors on four of the five recognized consensus All-America teams. He also became the first FBS tight end in history to earn a league MVP honor when the MAC named him the Vern Smith Leadership Award recipient. In addition, Fannin was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Fannin owns more than 20 BGSU school records and set eight FBS records in 2024, including the following tight end categories: single-season receptions, single-season receiving yards, receptions per game, receiving yards per game, bowl game receptions, bowl game receiving yards, regular-season receiving yards, and regular-season receiving yards per game. Additionally, his 17 receptions in the 68 Ventures Bowl tied the FBS record for tight end receptions in a single game.
VERN SMITH LEADERSHIP AWARD WINNERS
1982 — Ray Bentley, LB, Central Michigan
1983 — Tim Tyrrell, QB, Northern Illinois
1984 — Brian McClure, QB, Bowling Green
1985 — Brian McClure, QB, Bowling Green
1986 — Terry Morris, QB, Miami
1987 — Eric Wilkerson, TB, Kent State
1988 — Tony Kimbrough, QB, Western Michigan
1989 — David Riley, QB, Ball State
1990 — Jeff Bender, QB, Central Michigan
1991 — Erik White, QB, Bowling Green
1992 — Erik White, QB, Bowling Green
1993 — Mike Neu, QB, Ball State
1994 — Brian Pruitt, TB, Central Michigan
1995 — Wasean Tait, TB, Toledo
1996 — Brad Maynard, P, Ball State
1997 — Randy Moss, WR, Marshall
1998 — Travis Prentice, TB, Miami
1999 — Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall
2000 — Robert Sanford, TB, Western Michigan
2001 — Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall
2002 — Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall
2003 — Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Miami
2004 — Charlie Frye, QB, Akron
2005 — Bruce Gradkowski, QB, Toledo
2005 — Greg Jennings, WR, Western Michigan
2006 — Garrett Wolfe, RB, Northern Illinois
2007 — Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois
2008 — Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois
2009 — Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan
2010 — Chad Spann, RB, Northern Illinois
2011 — Chandler Harnish, QB, Northern Illinois
2012 — Jordan Lynch, QB, Northern Illinois
2013 — Jordan Lynch, QB, Northern Illinois
2014 — Greg Mancz, OL, Toledo
2015 — Matt Johnson, QB, Bowling Green
2016 — Zach Terrell, QB, Western Michigan
2017 — Logan Woodside, QB, Toledo
2018 — Sutton Smith, DE, Northern Illinois
2019 — LeVante Bellamy, RB, Western Michigan
2020 — Jaret Patterson, RB, Buffalo
2021 — Dustin Crum, QB, Kent State
2022 — Kurtis Rourke, QB, Ohio
2023 — Dequan Finn, QB, Toledo
2024 — Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green
