IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced on Thursday that Western Michigan football redshirt senior Mike Caliendo has been named a semifinalist for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy.

Caliendo is one of a record 199 semifinalist for this year's award which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

The Brookfield, Wis., native is a three-time Academic All-MAC selection and three-time MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete. Caliendo was also a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 honoree last season. During the fall of 2019 the redshirt senior owned a 3.89 grade-point average as a biomedical sciences major.

On the field last season Caliendo started all 13 games on the offensive line en route to Second Team All-MAC honors. The redshirt senior helped the Broncos rank second in the MAC in total offensive yards per game (445.7) and third in points per game (33.1).

Heading into the 2020 campaign Caliendo is a preseason First Team All-Conference selection by Phil Steele and second team by Athlon Sports. Caliendo is also on the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy.

Past winners of the William V. Campbell Trophy including former Bronco quarterback Zach Terrell (2016) along with Peyton Manning (1997), Chad Pennington (1999), Tim Tebow (2009) and last year's winner Justin Herbert.

The NFF will announce 12-to-14 finalists in November, and each of them will receive a $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2020 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. Later this year, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 31^st Campbell Trophy, having his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000 and receiving his own 25-pound bronze version of the iconic statue.