University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Elliott and Montiel Earn CoSIDA Academic All-American Honors
Dec 01, 2016 | Football
Duo becomes fifth and sixth honorees in school history.
Click here to see the full CoSIDA Academic All-American Teams
MEMPHIS – Seniors Jake Elliott and Daniel Montiel were each named a CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree, Thursday. Elliott earned first team honors, while Montiel earned second team honors. Both were also named to the American Athletic Conference first-team earlier, Wednesday. The two seniors are the fifth and sixth different Tigers to earn Academic All-America honors and it marks just the second time in program history the team has had two honorees in a single class.
Elliott was voted the first team honoree at place-kicker to earn his first career Academic All-American honor. On track to graduate in May, Elliott became the first player in American Athletic Conference history to earn four consecutive first team all-conference honors after becoming Memphis' all-time leading scorer this season. Also holding the school record for field goals made (80) and consecutive PATs made (currently 198-of-198), Elliott was a key cog in a special teams unit that finished the regular season ranked second in the country in kick-off return defense, allowing just 15.46 yards per return. On 88 kickoffs, Elliott booted 60 of them for touchbacks, holding return threats to 26 returns throughout the year.
Sporting a 3.86 GPA in marketing management, Elliott is also one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award and was Memphis' nominee for the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award and the Wuerffel Trophy. Elliott becomes just the second Tiger in program history to earn first team Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Defensive lineman Pat Jansen was also a first-team honoree in 1992.
Montiel, who was an academic all-district honoree last year, is also earning his first Academic All-America honor. The senior tight end already has his undergraduate degree in hand, completing his bachelor's degree in accounting last spring. He is currently working to complete his master's degree in liberal studies and will finish that program in May of 2017.
A member of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List in his senior season, he was named to the award's weekly honor roll back on Nov. 15th after a 10-catch, 100-yard receiving game against USF. For the year, Montiel has 25 catches for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one two-point conversion catch, tying his season high in touchdown catches from last year. A native of Arlington, Texas, Montiel has appeared in 44 career games at Memphis and heading in to a third straight bowl game, has 43 catches for 583 yards and seven touchdowns.
Memphis awaits word of its bowl destination fate, the third consecutive year the Tigers will make a trip to a bowl game. The Tigers should learn their bowl destination on Sunday afternoon after the Bowl Selection Show.
CoSIDA Academic All-America
1963 - Dave Casinelli (RB), 2nd team
1992 - Pat Jansen (DL), 1st team
1992 - Gary Bouldin (TE), 2nd team
2007 - Brandon Patterson (DB), 2nd team
2008 - Brandon Patterson (DB), 2nd team
2016 - Jake Elliott (PK), 1st team
2016 - Daniel Montiel (TE), 2nd team
MEMPHIS – Seniors Jake Elliott and Daniel Montiel were each named a CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree, Thursday. Elliott earned first team honors, while Montiel earned second team honors. Both were also named to the American Athletic Conference first-team earlier, Wednesday. The two seniors are the fifth and sixth different Tigers to earn Academic All-America honors and it marks just the second time in program history the team has had two honorees in a single class.
Elliott was voted the first team honoree at place-kicker to earn his first career Academic All-American honor. On track to graduate in May, Elliott became the first player in American Athletic Conference history to earn four consecutive first team all-conference honors after becoming Memphis' all-time leading scorer this season. Also holding the school record for field goals made (80) and consecutive PATs made (currently 198-of-198), Elliott was a key cog in a special teams unit that finished the regular season ranked second in the country in kick-off return defense, allowing just 15.46 yards per return. On 88 kickoffs, Elliott booted 60 of them for touchbacks, holding return threats to 26 returns throughout the year.
Sporting a 3.86 GPA in marketing management, Elliott is also one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award and was Memphis' nominee for the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award and the Wuerffel Trophy. Elliott becomes just the second Tiger in program history to earn first team Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Defensive lineman Pat Jansen was also a first-team honoree in 1992.
Montiel, who was an academic all-district honoree last year, is also earning his first Academic All-America honor. The senior tight end already has his undergraduate degree in hand, completing his bachelor's degree in accounting last spring. He is currently working to complete his master's degree in liberal studies and will finish that program in May of 2017.
A member of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List in his senior season, he was named to the award's weekly honor roll back on Nov. 15th after a 10-catch, 100-yard receiving game against USF. For the year, Montiel has 25 catches for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one two-point conversion catch, tying his season high in touchdown catches from last year. A native of Arlington, Texas, Montiel has appeared in 44 career games at Memphis and heading in to a third straight bowl game, has 43 catches for 583 yards and seven touchdowns.
Memphis awaits word of its bowl destination fate, the third consecutive year the Tigers will make a trip to a bowl game. The Tigers should learn their bowl destination on Sunday afternoon after the Bowl Selection Show.
CoSIDA Academic All-America
1963 - Dave Casinelli (RB), 2nd team
1992 - Pat Jansen (DL), 1st team
1992 - Gary Bouldin (TE), 2nd team
2007 - Brandon Patterson (DB), 2nd team
2008 - Brandon Patterson (DB), 2nd team
2016 - Jake Elliott (PK), 1st team
2016 - Daniel Montiel (TE), 2nd team
Players Mentioned
PK
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TE
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