Finding out what the Campbell Trophy really represents

MENOMONIE (September 28, 2017) – Former UW-Stout offensive lineman Logan Stoa learned that being a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy was a bigger deal than he had originally thought.
 
Selected as a semifinalist a year ago during the 2016 season, Stoa recently attended the first Campbell Trophy Summit held at Stanford University, Aug. 24-26.
 

At the three-day summit, Stoa, who was accompanied by his father, Larry, heard from CEOs and leaders from across the United States, but mostly from the nearby Silicon Valley, who had been mentored by Bill Campbell, the man the National Football Foundation trophy was named for.
 
Stoa and the other attendees heard from Brad Smith, the chairman and CEO of Intuit, the company that sponsored the summit; Diane Greene, a senior vice president at Google, Inc.;  Susan Wojcicki, the CEO at YouTube;  Nate Boyer, a board member with Merging Vets and Players;  Steve Young, former NFL quarterback and co-founder and manager and director of HGGC, along with many other CEOs and entrepreneurs.  Also speaking were former NFL players Charlie Batch of the Best of the Batch Foundation and Ronnie Lott, CEO of Lott Auto Ventures.  Bob Bowlsby, the commissioner of the Big 12, was on hand as were several former Campbell Trophy recipients.
 
Stoa, who graduated in May with a degree in business administration, is currently employed by RJ Ryan Construction in Mendota Heights, Minn., as a project manager.
 
"This was truly one of the best experiences I have had in my lifetime," Stoa said. "We got the opportunity to hear from people that Bill Campbell had mentored throughout the years. Bill was a truly amazing man, a man that I cannot believe that I had never heard of until this seminar."
 
Campbell played and coached football at Columbia University, then later served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for nine years. Coined the "Coach of Silicon Valley", Campbell mentored CEOs including Steve Jobs of Apple, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit and countless others. In his spare time, he coached eighth grade boys and girls flag football. He accomplished all this while serving as CEO and Chairman of Intuit. Campbell died in 2016.
 
"Bill's passion was football and coaching," Stoa said. "He was not only a football coach, but more so a coach of life as many of the speakers had said when they talked about him.
 
Stoa takes great honor in receiving the award last fall.
 

"The William V. Campbell award is truly the largest honor I have ever received in my life," Stoa said. "This award takes a look at an individual not only as a football player, but more so as a person and a leader.
 
"This was truly an incredible experience and an even better one that I got to share with my father."
 
The Campbell Trophy is awarded annually by the National Football Foundation. Bill Campbell served on the Foundation's Board of Directors for 37 years and was the 2004 recipient of the NFF's prestigious Gold Medal. The Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership.

Semi-finalists for the award were announced Wednesday, Sept. 27. UW-Stout linebacker and team captain Jared Allen was named a semi-finalist.