The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Wednesday the record 206 semifinalists for the 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy®, including Lake Forest College defensive end Preston Mosher.

The Campbell Trophy® is college football's premier scholar-athlete award. Collectively, the semifinalists boast a 3.64 average GPA and Mosher is among 130 team captains on the list.
 
Celebrating its 37th year, the Campbell Trophy® recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.

Mosher, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, was a Second Team All-Midwest Conference selection last fall after tying for second on the team and 10th in the league with 3.0 sacks. In 34 career games, he has made 75 tackles and has 21.0 tackles for loss, 12.0 sacks, five forced fumbles, and a pair of fumble recoveries to his credit. He helped the Foresters capture a conference title and play in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs in 2024 and the team is 27-7 overall and 23-5 in MWC play during his career.

Majoring in business with a management concentration, Mosher is a three-time Academic All-MWC honoree. On campus he serves as president of the College's Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is a member of the Lake Forest College Student Philanthropy Council, and is one of the Foresters' two Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representatives. Mosher also participates in Relay for Life and has volunteered with his teammates at Feed My Starving Children. He plans to study wealth management in graduate school.

"Preston represents everything we want a student-athlete to be," began Lake Forest College Head Football Coach and Assistant Vice President for Athletics Coach Jim Catanzaro. "He is a good, consistent football player who leads by example. But what separates him is the way he impacts others. Preston is the type of person who makes everyone around him better, and he has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches through his actions."

The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on October 21, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas for the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on December 8, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports.
 
Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 37th Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. 
 
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.