1980 All-America college football team


The 1980 All-America college football team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1980.
The NCAA recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1980 season. They are the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America, and the United Press International. The AP, UPI, and FWAA teams were selected by polling of sports writers and/or broadcasters. The AFCA team was based on a poll of coaches. Other notable selectors, though not recognized by the NCAA as official, included Football News, a national weekly football publication, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, The Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Fourteen players were unanimous picks by all four official selectors. Seven of the unanimous picks were offensive players: South Carolina running back and 1980 Heisman Trophy winner, George Rogers; Georgia running back and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, Herschel Walker; Purdue quarterback and 1980 Sammy Baugh Trophy winner, Mark Herrmann; Stanford wide receiver Ken Margerum; Purdue tight end Dave Young; Pittsburgh tackle Mark May; and Notre Dame center John Scully. The seven unanimous picks on the defensive side were: Pittsburgh defensive end Hugh Green, who won the 1980 Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award, Lombardi Award, and Sporting News and UPI College Football Player of the Year awards; Alabama defensive end E.J. Junior; Houston defensive tackle Leonard Mitchell; Baylor linebacker Mike Singletary; North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor; UCLA defensive back Kenny Easley; and USC defensive back Ronnie Lott.
In 1989, The New York Times published a follow-up on the 1980 AP All-America team. The article reported that 20 of the 22 first-team players went on to play in the NFL, with 13 still active and eight having received All-Pro honors.

Offensive selections

Wide receivers

Ken Margerum, Stanford

Tight ends

Dave Young, Purdue

Tackles

Mark May, Pittsburgh Keith Van Horne, USC Nick Eyre, BYU

Guards

Randy Schleusener, Nebraska Louis Oubre, Oklahoma

Centers

John Scully, Notre Dame

Quarterbacks

Mark Herrmann, Purdue

Running backs

George Rogers, South Carolina Herschel Walker, Georgia Jarvis Redwine, Nebraska

Defensive selections

Defensive ends

Hugh Green, Pittsburgh E.J. Junior, Alabama

Defensive tackles

Leonard Mitchell, Houston Kenneth Sims, Texas

Middle guards

Ron Simmons, Florida State

Linebackers

Mike Singletary, Baylor Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina Bob Crable, Notre Dame David Little, Florida

Defensive backs

Kenny Easley, UCLA Ronnie Lott, USC John Simmons, SMU

Special teams

Kickers

Punters

Key

Bold – Consensus All-American
  • -1 – First-team selection
  • -2 – Second-team selection
  • -3 – Third-team selection

Official selectors

Unofficial selectors