NFF Names 2023 Legacy Award Recipients
November 1, 2023
IRVING, Texas (Nov. 1, 2023) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today three individuals who will be recognized with 2023 NFF Legacy Awards during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas Dec. 5 at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The NFF Legacy Awards, established in 2007, honor individuals and organizations who have made extraordinary contributions to the NFF and/or embody its mission. This year’s honorees are:
- Todd Berry, AFCA Executive Director
- Mark Flynn, NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
- A.J. Robinson, Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
Presented in years when worthy candidates emerge, the NFF Legacy Award recognizes individuals who have never failed to answer a call of support from the NFF, and they have distinguished themselves as the most ardent proponents of football’s unique ability to develop our next generation of great leaders.
“College football relies on a wide range of individuals with a diverse set of talents to ensure the game’s future,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. “Todd Berry, Mark Flynn and A.J. Robinson have all been longtime supporters of the NFF and college football, and all three have left a lasting impact on college sports. We are proud to recognize them as ambassadors for the game with NFF Legacy Awards.”
Todd Berry
AFCA Executive Director
Todd Berry became the fifth executive director of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on March 1, 2016, and he announced this past year that he will step down in January 2024 after an impressive eight-year run.
With a 33-year coaching career under his belt, which included the head football jobs at Illinois State, Army and Louisiana-Monroe, Berry took the reins of AFCA and has led the charge, fulfilling the organization’s role as the leading voice for football coaches nationwide. Berry has guided the 10,000-member organization and its efforts to maintain the highest possible coaching standards while making the game as safe as possible.
Serving on more than 15 boards and committees, Berry has played a role in establishing the early football signing day in December, the addition of a 10th assistant coach and passage of the four-game redshirt rule. Berry also led AFCA through the 2020 COVID-19 Season, including his own serious bout with the disease.
Under Berry’s watch, the AFCA Convention, the organization’s flagship event, which attracts more than 6,000 coaches from all levels of the game, continued to flourish. The country’s premier and largest football coaching gathering provides attendees a wide range of educational opportunities while providing them access to a massive trade show hall, featuring all the latest football innovations. Berry brought back the Tailgate Party at the event, giving AFCA members a place to watch the FBS national championship game while catching up with old friends and making new contacts in the profession. Berry also gave every division of football, from high school to FBS, a voice in their divisional coaches’ meetings.
Berry spearheaded the first live television broadcast of the American Football Coaches Awards, which took place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville and aired on CBS Sports Network in 2017. The show featured the AFCA national coaches of the year in all divisions and the presentation of the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy.
An All-State quarterback in Oklahoma, Berry matriculated to the University of Tulsa. A knee injury in 1981 cut his playing days short, and after graduating in 1983, he immediately entered the coaching profession.
Berry’s association with the AFCA began in 1984 when he became a member, eventually serving on numerous committees. In 2001, he was named to the AFCA’s Board of Trustees while serving as head coach at Army, and was re-elected to the Board in 2010 after he arrived at Louisiana-Monroe, rising up to the position of First Vice President in 2015.
“Todd Berry’s impact on the thousands of players and countless assistants as a head coach will not be forgotten,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. We at the National Football Foundation are particularly grateful for everything he has done at the AFCA to protect the game for future generations. We are extremely grateful for his support and friendship over the years, and we salute him for his upcoming retirement.”
Mark Flynn
NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
Mark Flynn played linebacker for College Football Hall of Fame Coach John Gagliardi at Saint John’s University (MN), including on the DIII 1976 national championship team, and he has remained a passionate and forceful advocate for the game throughout his entire life.
After graduating from Saint John’s and earning his MBA from Harvard, Flynn spent four decades working with Silicon Valley emerging growth companies as an investor and advisor.
Flynn and NFF Board Member Michael Moe coached an eighth-grade football team for 15 seasons alongside Bill Campbell, the namesake of the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy.
Following Bill’s passing in April 2016, Mark and Diane Flynn, Michael Moe and former Intuit Chairman and CEO Brad Smith collaborated and created the Campbell Trophy Summit as an impactful way to share Bill’s influence and legacy with future generations.
The Summit, first held in 2017 and attended by more than 900 scholar-athletes since its inception, is hosted at Stanford, connecting former Campbell Trophy® nominees with some of the nation’s top CEOs and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who were impacted by Bill. The event has proven to be highly successful with many of the attendees citing the opportunity as life changing.
“There are few if any people who are more passionate about the game of football than Mark Flynn,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He’s a true believer of the game and its lifelong benefits, and his desire to pay if forward and mentor the next generation has created an amazing platform in the Campbell Trophy Summit. We are extremely grateful for his contributions to the NFF, his beloved alma mater Saint John’s and the future of football at every level. We salute him for all he has done and continues to do for our great game.”
A.J. Robinson
Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
A stalwart in the Atlanta community for several decades, A.J. Robinson was named chairman of Atlanta Hall Management, the nonprofit tasked with overseeing the College Football Hall of Fame, in 2019. He played a key role in the development of the Hall of Fame since its inception, including the announcement of the project in 2009 and through its opening in August 2014 and now as the chairman.
Originally costing $68.5 million in private funding, plus another $15 million in state funding for infrastructure improvements, the 95,000-square-foot Hall of Fame has become a major hub for college football and one of the main attractions in Downtown Atlanta. Robinson’s involvement has played a critical role in the venue’s success, including steering the operations during the challenging COVID period and maintaining the critical support from founding sponsors/partners: Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Coca-Cola, Kia and Microsoft.
Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, the Hall serves as one of the most unique and popular events spaces in Atlanta. The venue has hosted nationally televised awards shows, media days for multiple college football conferences and countless parties during major sporting events, including the College Football Playoff, the Super Bowl and the Final Four.
Robinson is the president of the Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) as well as the head of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID), and both organizations are charged with creating a robust economic environment in Downtown Atlanta. Robinson became CAP president in 2003, bookended by the renovation of the 3.9-million-square-foot Georgia World Congress Center in 2002 and the opening of the $290 million Georga Aquarium in 2005.
Those milestones opened the door to numerous major projects around Centennial Olympic Park in the coming years, including the World of Coca-Cola, the CNN Tour, the SkyView Atlanta Ferris Wheel, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the recently renovated State Farm Arena and of course the opening of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Before becoming president of CAP, Robinson was president of Portman Holdings, supervising an international portfolio of real estate projects in the United States, India, Europe and China. After graduating from Emory University in 1977, he earned an MBA from the Harvard School of Business in 1980. He has consistently been recognized as one of Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians as well as one of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 100 Most Influential Atlantans.
“AJ Robinson has proven invaluable to success of the College Football Hall of Fame, helping make it a powerful platform not just in Atlanta but for promoting the game nationwide,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He is a remarkable leader who has been able to enlist the critical local support that we have needed to succeed, and we are proud to salute him for everything has done to promote college football and the efforts of the NFF.”
All-Time List of NFF Legacy Award Recipients
2007 – Harold Alfond, founder of Dexter Shoe Co.
2007 – F.M. Kirby, former Alleghany Corporation chairman and emeritus NFF board member
2007 – The Atlantic Coast Conference led by Commissioner John Swofford
2008 – Tom Hansen, former Pac-10 Conference commissioner
2008 – Jeffrey Orleans, former Ivy League executive director
2008 – Mike Tranghese, former Big East Conference commissioner
2010 – Tom Jernstedt, former NCAA executive vice president
2011 – Wright Waters, former Sun Belt Conference commissioner
2012 – Eric Long, former general manager of the Waldorf Astoria
2012 – Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling
2012 – Craig Silver, CBS coordinating producer for college football
2013 – Nate Boyer, former University of Texas long snapper and Special Forces Green Beret
2014 – Mike McNeely, former University of Florida special teams player and reserve receiver
2015 – Donnie Duncan, former Big 12 senior associate commissioner and Oklahoma AD
2015 – Mike Slive, former Conference USA and Southeastern Conference commissioner
2016 – Jeff Immelt, former GE chairman & CEO and NFF board member
2018 – Karl Benson, former Sun Belt Conference commissioner
2018 – Paul Hoolahan, former Sugar Bowl CEO
2018 – Jonathan B. Taylor, NFF Accountant and partner at Spielman, Koenigsberg & Parker
2018 – Richard Young, NFF General Counsel and partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
2019 – Dennis Adamovich, former Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame CEO
2019 – Rogers Redding, former College Football Officiating national coordinator
2022 – Bob Bowlsby, former Big 12 Conference commissioner
2022 – Tom Burnett, former Southland Conference commissioner
2022 – Bill Marolt, U.S. Olympic Committee and former Colorado athletics director
2022 – Dr. Dennis Thomas, former Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference commissioner
2022 – Bob Vecchione, outgoing NACDA Chief Executive Officer
2023 – Todd Berry, retiring AFCA Executive Director Todd Berry
2023 – Mark Flynn, NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
2023 – A.J. Robinson, Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
Please visit FootballFoundation.org/feature/NFF2023 for more information on the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, including how to register for tickets, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and room rates at the ARIA.
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
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IRVING, Texas (Nov. 1, 2023) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today three individuals who will be recognized with 2023 NFF Legacy Awards during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas Dec. 5 at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The NFF Legacy Awards, established in 2007, honor individuals and organizations who have made extraordinary contributions to the NFF and/or embody its mission. This year’s honorees are:
- Todd Berry, AFCA Executive Director
- Mark Flynn, NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
- A.J. Robinson, Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
Presented in years when worthy candidates emerge, the NFF Legacy Award recognizes individuals who have never failed to answer a call of support from the NFF, and they have distinguished themselves as the most ardent proponents of football’s unique ability to develop our next generation of great leaders.
“College football relies on a wide range of individuals with a diverse set of talents to ensure the game’s future,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. “Todd Berry, Mark Flynn and A.J. Robinson have all been longtime supporters of the NFF and college football, and all three have left a lasting impact on college sports. We are proud to recognize them as ambassadors for the game with NFF Legacy Awards.”
AFCA Executive Director
Todd Berry became the fifth executive director of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on March 1, 2016, and he announced this past year that he will step down in January 2024 after an impressive eight-year run.
With a 33-year coaching career under his belt, which included the head football jobs at Illinois State, Army and Louisiana-Monroe, Berry took the reins of AFCA and has led the charge, fulfilling the organization’s role as the leading voice for football coaches nationwide. Berry has guided the 10,000-member organization and its efforts to maintain the highest possible coaching standards while making the game as safe as possible.
Serving on more than 15 boards and committees, Berry has played a role in establishing the early football signing day in December, the addition of a 10th assistant coach and passage of the four-game redshirt rule. Berry also led AFCA through the 2020 COVID-19 Season, including his own serious bout with the disease.
Under Berry’s watch, the AFCA Convention, the organization’s flagship event, which attracts more than 6,000 coaches from all levels of the game, continued to flourish. The country’s premier and largest football coaching gathering provides attendees a wide range of educational opportunities while providing them access to a massive trade show hall, featuring all the latest football innovations. Berry brought back the Tailgate Party at the event, giving AFCA members a place to watch the FBS national championship game while catching up with old friends and making new contacts in the profession. Berry also gave every division of football, from high school to FBS, a voice in their divisional coaches’ meetings.
Berry spearheaded the first live television broadcast of the American Football Coaches Awards, which took place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville and aired on CBS Sports Network in 2017. The show featured the AFCA national coaches of the year in all divisions and the presentation of the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy.
An All-State quarterback in Oklahoma, Berry matriculated to the University of Tulsa. A knee injury in 1981 cut his playing days short, and after graduating in 1983, he immediately entered the coaching profession.
Berry’s association with the AFCA began in 1984 when he became a member, eventually serving on numerous committees. In 2001, he was named to the AFCA’s Board of Trustees while serving as head coach at Army, and was re-elected to the Board in 2010 after he arrived at Louisiana-Monroe, rising up to the position of First Vice President in 2015.
“Todd Berry’s impact on the thousands of players and countless assistants as a head coach will not be forgotten,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. We at the National Football Foundation are particularly grateful for everything he has done at the AFCA to protect the game for future generations. We are extremely grateful for his support and friendship over the years, and we salute him for his upcoming retirement.”
NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
After graduating from Saint John’s and earning his MBA from Harvard, Flynn spent four decades working with Silicon Valley emerging growth companies as an investor and advisor.
Flynn and NFF Board Member Michael Moe coached an eighth-grade football team for 15 seasons alongside Bill Campbell, the namesake of the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy.
Following Bill’s passing in April 2016, Mark and Diane Flynn, Michael Moe and former Intuit Chairman and CEO Brad Smith collaborated and created the Campbell Trophy Summit as an impactful way to share Bill’s influence and legacy with future generations.
The Summit, first held in 2017 and attended by more than 900 scholar-athletes since its inception, is hosted at Stanford, connecting former Campbell Trophy® nominees with some of the nation’s top CEOs and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who were impacted by Bill. The event has proven to be highly successful with many of the attendees citing the opportunity as life changing.
“There are few if any people who are more passionate about the game of football than Mark Flynn,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He’s a true believer of the game and its lifelong benefits, and his desire to pay if forward and mentor the next generation has created an amazing platform in the Campbell Trophy Summit. We are extremely grateful for his contributions to the NFF, his beloved alma mater Saint John’s and the future of football at every level. We salute him for all he has done and continues to do for our great game.”
Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
A stalwart in the Atlanta community for several decades, A.J. Robinson was named chairman of Atlanta Hall Management, the nonprofit tasked with overseeing the College Football Hall of Fame, in 2019. He played a key role in the development of the Hall of Fame since its inception, including the announcement of the project in 2009 and through its opening in August 2014 and now as the chairman.
Originally costing $68.5 million in private funding, plus another $15 million in state funding for infrastructure improvements, the 95,000-square-foot Hall of Fame has become a major hub for college football and one of the main attractions in Downtown Atlanta. Robinson’s involvement has played a critical role in the venue’s success, including steering the operations during the challenging COVID period and maintaining the critical support from founding sponsors/partners: Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Coca-Cola, Kia and Microsoft.
Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, the Hall serves as one of the most unique and popular events spaces in Atlanta. The venue has hosted nationally televised awards shows, media days for multiple college football conferences and countless parties during major sporting events, including the College Football Playoff, the Super Bowl and the Final Four.
Robinson is the president of the Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) as well as the head of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID), and both organizations are charged with creating a robust economic environment in Downtown Atlanta. Robinson became CAP president in 2003, bookended by the renovation of the 3.9-million-square-foot Georgia World Congress Center in 2002 and the opening of the $290 million Georga Aquarium in 2005.
Those milestones opened the door to numerous major projects around Centennial Olympic Park in the coming years, including the World of Coca-Cola, the CNN Tour, the SkyView Atlanta Ferris Wheel, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the recently renovated State Farm Arena and of course the opening of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Before becoming president of CAP, Robinson was president of Portman Holdings, supervising an international portfolio of real estate projects in the United States, India, Europe and China. After graduating from Emory University in 1977, he earned an MBA from the Harvard School of Business in 1980. He has consistently been recognized as one of Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians as well as one of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 100 Most Influential Atlantans.
“AJ Robinson has proven invaluable to success of the College Football Hall of Fame, helping make it a powerful platform not just in Atlanta but for promoting the game nationwide,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He is a remarkable leader who has been able to enlist the critical local support that we have needed to succeed, and we are proud to salute him for everything has done to promote college football and the efforts of the NFF.”
2007 – Harold Alfond, founder of Dexter Shoe Co.
2007 – F.M. Kirby, former Alleghany Corporation chairman and emeritus NFF board member
2007 – The Atlantic Coast Conference led by Commissioner John Swofford
2008 – Tom Hansen, former Pac-10 Conference commissioner
2008 – Jeffrey Orleans, former Ivy League executive director
2008 – Mike Tranghese, former Big East Conference commissioner
2010 – Tom Jernstedt, former NCAA executive vice president
2011 – Wright Waters, former Sun Belt Conference commissioner
2012 – Eric Long, former general manager of the Waldorf Astoria
2012 – Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling
2012 – Craig Silver, CBS coordinating producer for college football
2013 – Nate Boyer, former University of Texas long snapper and Special Forces Green Beret
2014 – Mike McNeely, former University of Florida special teams player and reserve receiver
2015 – Donnie Duncan, former Big 12 senior associate commissioner and Oklahoma AD
2015 – Mike Slive, former Conference USA and Southeastern Conference commissioner
2016 – Jeff Immelt, former GE chairman & CEO and NFF board member
2018 – Karl Benson, former Sun Belt Conference commissioner
2018 – Paul Hoolahan, former Sugar Bowl CEO
2018 – Jonathan B. Taylor, NFF Accountant and partner at Spielman, Koenigsberg & Parker
2018 – Richard Young, NFF General Counsel and partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
2019 – Dennis Adamovich, former Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame CEO
2019 – Rogers Redding, former College Football Officiating national coordinator
2022 – Bob Bowlsby, former Big 12 Conference commissioner
2022 – Tom Burnett, former Southland Conference commissioner
2022 – Bill Marolt, U.S. Olympic Committee and former Colorado athletics director
2022 – Dr. Dennis Thomas, former Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference commissioner
2022 – Bob Vecchione, outgoing NACDA Chief Executive Officer
2023 – Todd Berry, retiring AFCA Executive Director Todd Berry
2023 – Mark Flynn, NFF Campbell Trophy Summit Chairman
2023 – A.J. Robinson, Atlanta Hall Management Chairman
Please visit FootballFoundation.org/feature/NFF2023 for more information on the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, including how to register for tickets, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and room rates at the ARIA.
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
