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The American Athletic Conference revealed its individual award winners and all-conference teams Wednesday, three days prior to Saturday’s AAC Championship Game between Tulane and UCF in New Orleans.
Individual Awards
The individual awards were voted on by the AAC’s 11 head coaches:
- Offensive Player of the Year: Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane
- Defensive Player of the Year: Ivan Pace Jr., ILB, Cincinnati
- Special Teams Player of the Year: Mason Fletcher, P, Cincinnati
- Rookie of the Year: E.J. Warner, QB, Temple
- Coach of the Year: Willie Fritz, Tulane
All-AAC Teams
The AAC released First and Second Team selections:
2022 All-AAC First Team
| Pos. | Player | College |
|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | College |
| QB | Clayton Tune | Houston |
| RB | Keaton Mitchell | East Carolina |
| RB | Tyjae Spears | Tulane |
| WR | Tank Dell | Houston |
| WR | Rashee Rice | SMU |
| WR | Keylon Stokes | Tulsa |
| TE | Josh Whyle | Cincinnati |
| C | Sincere Haynesworth | Tulane |
| OG | Lokahi Pauole | UCF |
| OG | Cam'Ron Johnson | Houston |
| OG | Prince Pines | Tulane |
| OT | Ryan Swoboda | UCF |
| OT | Patrick Paul | Houston |
| DL | Ricky Barber | UCF |
| DL | Tre'Mon Morris-Brash | UCF |
| DL | Jowon Briggs | Cincinnati |
| DL | Dontay Corleone | Cincinnati |
| DL | D'Anthony Jones | Houston |
| DL | Darian Varner | Temple |
| LB | Jason Johnson | UCF |
| LB | Ivan Pace Jr. | Cincinnati |
| LB | John Marshall | Navy |
| LB | Dorian Williams | Tulane |
| CB | Ja'Quan Sheppard | Cincinnati |
| CB | Jarius Monroe | Tulane |
| S | Quindell Johnson | Memphis |
| S | Macon Clark | Tulane |
| K | Chris Howard | Memphis |
| P | Mason Fletcher | Cincinnati |
| RS | Jimmy Horn Jr. | South Florida |
2022 All-AAC Second Team
| Pos. | Player | College |
|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | College |
| QB | Michael Pratt | Tulane |
| RB | Isaiah Bowser | UCF |
| RB | Brian Battie | South Florida |
| WR | Ryan O'Keefe | UCF |
| WR | Tyler Scott | Cincinnati |
| WR | C.J. Johnson | East Carolina |
| WR | Xavier Weaver | South Florida |
| TE | Caden Prieskorn | Memphis |
| C | Matt Lee | UCF |
| OG | Sam Jackson | UCF |
| OG | Justin Osborne | SMU |
| OT | James Tunstall | Cincinnati |
| OT | Joey Claybrook | Tulane |
| DL | Elijah Chatman | SMU |
| DL | Darius Hodges | Tulane |
| DL | Patrick Jenkins | Tulane |
| DL | Anthony Goodlow | Tulsa |
| LB | Xavier Cullens | Memphis |
| LB | Layton Jordan | Temple |
| LB | Nick Anderson | Tulane |
| LB | Justin Wright | Tulsa |
| CB | Malik Fleming | East Carolina |
| CB | Art Green | Houston |
| S | Ja'Von Hicks | Cincinnati |
| S | Gervarrius Owens | Houston |
| K | Ryan Coe | Cincinnati |
| P | Casey Glover | Tulane |
| RS | Jha'Quan Jackson | Tulane |
All-AAC Honorable Mention
The AAC released a list of 14 players receiving honorable mention status:
2022 All-AAC Honorable Mention
| Pos. | Player | College |
|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | College |
| CB | Arquon Bush | Cincinnati |
| OT | Joe Huber | Cincinnati |
| OG | Dylan O'Quinn | Cincinnati |
| WR | Isaiah Winstead | East Carolina |
| RS | Jayce Rogers | Houston |
| DL | Jaylon Allen | Memphis |
| CB | Davion Ross | Memphis |
| DL | Jacob Busic | Navy |
| LB | Dwayne Boyles Jr. | South Florida |
| C | Brad Cecil | South Florida |
| OG | Jaylon Thomas | SMU |
| S | Larry Brooks | Tulane |
| TE | Tyrick James | Tulane |
| CB | Tyon Davis | Tulsa |
All-AAC Breakdown by Team - Total (First, Second)
- Tulane - 13 (6, 7)
- Cincinnati - 10 (6, 4)
- UCF - 9 (5, 4)
- Houston - 7 (5, 2)
- Memphis - 4 (2, 2)
- East Carolina - 3 (1, 2)
- SMU - 3, (1, 2)
- South Florida - 3 (1, 2)
- Tulsa - 3 (1, 2)
- Temple - 2 (1, 1)
- Navy - 1 (1, 0)
Additional Notes
- Tulane leads the 11 teams with most All-AAC selections with 13. This is the first time Tulane ranks first in the league with most all-conference honorees. Tulane is tied with Cincinnati for most First Team All-AAC members with six.
- Tyjae Spears is both the first Tulane player and first non-quarterback to ever win the AAC Offensive Player of the Year award since its inception in 2013.
- Ivan Pace Jr. is the second consecutive Cincinnati player to win the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award, succeeding Sauce Gardner in 2021.
- Mason Fletcher is the first punter to solely win the AAC Special Teams Player of the Year award and the first Cincinnati player to receive the honor. Former former Memphis punter Tom Horsney and former Houston punter Dane Roy were co-winners of the award in 2013 and 2019, respectively.
- E.J. Warner is the first Temple player to win AAC Rookie of the Year. He is the first quarterback to win the award since Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder in 2018.
- Willie Fritz is the first Tulane head coach to win AAC Coach of the Year. He was unanimously selected.
- The only unanimous First Team All-AAC selection was Navy outside linebacker John Marshall.
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