The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 5/4 Football has national-best four players on Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list
08.17.2026 | Football
Rasheem Biles, Cam Coleman, Arch Manning and Colin Simmons earned spots on the watch list.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5/4 Texas Football senior LB Rasheem Biles, junior WR Cam Coleman, senior QB Arch Manning and junior EDGE Colin Simmons were named to the preseason watch list for the 2026 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced Monday. Texas' four selections to this year's watch list lead the nation.
The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is the nation's fourth-oldest individual college football accolade and is presented annually to college football's player of the year. It has been awarded to a Longhorn on three occasions (Ricky Williams, 1998; Colt McCoy, 2008 and 2009). Recently, Texas had back-to-back semifinalists for the award after former UT quarterback Quinn Ewers was named one in 2024 following defensive lineman T'Vondre Sweat in 2023.
In addition to the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Biles has also landed on the watch lists for the Butkus Award, Lombardi Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Biles is a Walter Camp preseason First-Team All-America selection and preseason First-Team All-SEC honoree.
Biles is a senior linebacker who transferred to Texas from Pitt in spring 2026. The Columbus, Ohio native played three seasons at Pitt (2023-25) and saw action in 31 games with 19 starts. Biles was a Second-Team All-ACC selection last season after making 10 starts at linebacker and led the nation with 1.70 tackles for loss per game. His 17.0 total tackles for loss tied for the eighth-most in the FBS last season. He led the Panthers with 101 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, six pass break-ups, two interceptions (returned for 85 yards and two touchdowns) and forced two fumbles. Biles delivered 11 stops and broke up a pass against Central Michigan on Sept. 6. He contributed 14 tackles at West Virginia on Sept. 13 and made six tackles and returned an interception for 75 yards for a touchdown against Louisville on Sept. 27. Against Boston College on Oct. 4, Biles forced a fumble, had a sack and recorded three tackles. He had a split-sack among nine total tackles vs. Notre Dame on Nov. 15 and returned a 10-yard interception for a touchdown against the Irish. He posted 15 tackles at Georgia Tech on Nov. 22 followed by a career-high 16-tackle performance vs. East Carolina in the Go Bowling Military Bowl on Dec. 27. He also forced and recovered a fumble and broke up a pass in the bowl game.
In addition to the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award preseason watch list, Coleman has also earned a spot on the Maxwell Award watch list for the second-consecutive year. Coleman was tabbed to Walter Camp's All-America Preseason First Team and the SEC's Preseason First Team.
Coleman, a first-year player at Texas, transferred to Texas from Auburn in spring 2026. Coleman appeared in 23 career games with 22 starts across two seasons at Auburn in 2024-25. As a sophomore in 2025, Coleman started in all 12 games and led the Tigers with 708 receiving yards on 56 receptions and five touchdowns. He averaged 12.6 yards per catch and 59 receiving yards per contest. Coleman pulled in seven receptions for 77 yards (11 ypc) against Ball State on Sept. 6 and caught two passes for 49 yards (24.5 ypc) and a score against South Alabama on Sept. 13. The Phenix City, Ala., product gathered three receptions for 88 yards (29.3 ypc) and a touchdown at Oklahoma on Sept. 20. He posted six receptions for 107 yards (18 ypc) vs. Missouri on Oct. 18. Coleman had a career game at Vanderbilt on Nov. 8, recording career highs in receptions with 10 and receiving yards with 143 (14.3 avg) to go along with a touchdown. In the penultimate game of the 2025 season, Coleman grabbed five passes for 65 yards (13 ypc) and a touchdown vs. Mercer on Nov. 22. In the Iron Bowl vs. Alabama on Nov. 29, he snared four receptions for 26 yards (6.5 ypc).
Manning is on the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award preseason watch list for the second-straight year. The New Orleans native has also been selected to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award. Manning was named to Walter Camp's All-America Preseason First Team and a Preseason All-SEC Second-Team selection.
In 13 total starts in 2025, Manning completed 248-of-404 passes (61.39 percent) for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 243.31 yards per contest. Also a threat with his legs, the New Orleans native was Texas' second-leading rusher in 2025 after recording 399 yards (92 attempts) and a team-best 10 rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per run. Manning had three games with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes without an interception, which tied for the most such games by any Power Conference quarterback during the regular season (Baylor's Sawyer Robertson and Ohio State's Julian Sayin) and is the most in a season by a Longhorn since Major Applewhite in 1999. He also holds the highest career passing touchdown percentage at home by an active Power Four Conference quarterback at 9.5 percent. Manning was tabbed one of 15 finalists for the Manning Award and was named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Postseason Great 8 for his performance in Texas' victory over No. 18/17/18 Michigan on Dec. 31 at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Leading the Longhorns to a 41-27 win against Michigan to conclude the season and earning the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl's MVP honors, Manning connected on 21-of-34 passes for 221 yards and two scores while adding a career-high 155 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, accounting for 376 yards of total offense and four touchdowns vs. the Wolverines. Over the final six games of the 2025 campaign, he generated 1,714 passing yards (286 per game) and 205 rushing yards while averaging 320 yards of total offense per game and 20 total touchdowns (14 passing, five rushing and one receiving). With the performance vs. Michigan, Manning became the only FBS or NFL QB in the last 30 seasons to have a game with 200-plus passing yards, 150-plus rushing yards, multiple passing touchdowns, multiple rushing touchdowns, no sacks, and no turnovers while averaging 15-plus yards per rush.
In his first full season as a starter at Texas, Manning guided the Longhorns to a 10-3 overall record to clinch UT's third-straight 10-win season – its most since 2007-09. Texas finished the season winning seven of its last eight games in addition to four AP Top-20 wins. The Longhorns went 5-2 against Top-20 opponents this season, with three of those wins coming against top-10 teams.
It marks the second-consecutive season Simmons has been placed on the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award. Simmons has also been named to the preseason watch lists for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, Lombardi Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy. The Dallas native was recognized on the Walter Camp preseason First-Team All-America and was named a preseason First-Team All-SEC selection.
Simmons, a third-year EDGE, started in all 13 games for the Longhorns in 2025 and was tabbed to the Coaches' All-SEC First Team. Simmons led Texas with 15.5 tackles for loss, 12.0 sacks, 15 pressures, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His 12.0 sacks led the SEC and ranked fifth in the FBS. Simmons hauled in four SEC weekly honors last season. Simmons was named SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week after compiling five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a career-high four pressures and a forced fumble that was returned by a teammate for a 52-yard touchdown in the win over Arkansas on Nov. 22. Simmons collected his third SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week honor after the win over No. 9/11 Vanderbilt on Nov. 1. Against the Commodores, Simmons produced a strip-sack and also made the recovery on the first Vanderbilt possession of the game to go along with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. Simmons collected his second-straight SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week honor after his performance in the road victory at Kentucky on Oct. 18. He recorded a career-high three sacks and a forced fumble vs. the Wildcats. He received his first career SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week after UT's win vs. No. 6/6 Oklahoma on Oct. 11. He logged 2.5 sacks as part of five tackles against the Sooners. In his first season on the Forty, Simmons took home freshman All-America honors after winning the 2024 Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award.
The 2026 Player of Year watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November and three finalists will be announced in early December. The 2026 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, who is voted on by the 138 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced in the second week of December.
Texas opens the 2026 season vs. Texas State at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 5, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will broadcast on ESPN.
