PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten announced the 2009 All-Conference football teams and individual award winners tonight as selected by the coaches and a media panel, with four different schools sharing the individual accolades.

Wisconsin running back John Clay was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year while Badgers’ linebacker Chris Borland was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year by both the coaches and the media.

On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was tabbed the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by the media, while the coaches honored Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick as the Big Ten Defensive Player and Defensive Lineman of the Year. Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz collected his third Dave McClain Coach of the Year award from the media while tackle Bryan Bulaga was honored by the coaches as the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Clay is the third Badgers’ standout to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, joining fellow running backs Ron Dayne (1999) and Brent Moss (1993).

The Wisconsin native is the third straight running back to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year accolades and the sixth sophomore to be honored, joining a group of former second-year winners that includes Purdue quarterback Drew Brees (1998), Michigan running backs Tyrone Wheatley (1992) and Jon Vaughn (1990) and Michigan State running backs Tico Duckett (1990) and Lorenzo White (1985). With one regular-season game remaining, Clay currently leads the Big Ten with 1,224 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. His average of 111.3 yards per contest ranks 16th nationally.

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year laurels were shared by two different players for the first time since the 2002 season, with Michigan State’s Jones being chosen by the media and Penn State’s Odrick tabbed by the coaches.

Jones, the Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, is the first Spartan to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades since the honor was first awarded in 1982. The junior linebacker leads the conference and currently ranks second nationally with 11.8 defensive stops per game, while also rating among the Big Ten’s top 10 with nine sacks (fourth) and 13.5 tackles for loss (tied for eighth).

“Greg Jones possesses all of the tools, the tangibles and intangibles, that make him a special player,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “He’s an extremely tenacious and instinctive player. Greg plays with great effort and toughness, plus he’s strong and quick. He’s the clear leader of our defense, and when he’s going, we’re going as a unit.
“His selection as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year also points the way for other great linebackers to come here to Michigan State and make a statement. With the media attention this program gets and the defensive scheme that we play, great linebackers can come here knowing that they will get plenty of opportunities to make plays.”

Odrick becomes the fourth Nittany Lion to collect Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining defensive ends Michael Haynes (2002) and Courtney Brown (1999) and linebacker LaVar Arrington (1998).

The senior defensive tackle is only the fifth interior linemen to earn the conference’s top defensive honor, a group that includes Ohio State’s Dan Wilkinson (1993), Purdue’s Jeff Zgonina (1992) and Illinois’ Moe Gardner (1990) and Don Thorp (1983). Odrick was also tabbed as the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year by the coaches, the fourth PSU standout to be so honored along with Tamba Hali (2005), Jimmy Kennedy (2002) and Brown (1999).

Odrick leads the Nittany Lions and ranks eighth in the conference with six sacks while collecting 41 defensive stops and 10 tackles for loss. He is part of a Penn State defensive unit that ranks among the top 10 nationally in scoring (fourth), total (seventh) and rushing (10th) defense.

Bulaga was named the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year by the coaches to become the sixth Hawkeye to be so honored and the first since Robert Gallery was chosen in 2003. Other Iowa Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year honorees include Eric Steinbach (2002), Mike Devlin (1992), Dave Croston (1986) and Mike Haight (1985).
Borland was tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year by both the coaches and media, the first defensive player to earn top freshman accolades since Purdue defensive back Stuart Schweigert was honored in 2000.

The Ohio native is the first Badgers defender to earn freshman laurels and the sixth overall, joining running backs P.J. Hill (2006), Anthony Davis (2001) and Dayne (1996) and quarterbacks Brooks Bollinger (1999) and Tony Lowery (1987). Borland ranked second in the conference and is tied for fifth nationally with five forced fumbles while also collecting 51 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three fumble recoveries and an interception.

Ferentz was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year after guiding Iowa to 10 victories for the first time since leading the team to three straight years of double-digit wins in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Hawkeyes entered the season without last year’s Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Shonn Greene and Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year Mitch King, then promptly lost their top returning rusher to injury before the first game.

Despite those departures, Ferentz guided his team to a 9-0 start and a program-record No. 4 ranking in the Bowl Championship Series poll before losing his starting quarterback to injury. With a freshman backup behind center, Iowa pushed Ohio State to overtime on the road before falling, then bounced back to defeat Minnesota and end the year tied for second in the conference at 6-2. Ferentz earns his third Big Ten Coach of the Year laurel, after being honored in 2002 and 2004.

He is only the fourth individual in conference history to win three or more Coach of the Year awards. Michigan’s Bo Schembechler was named Big Ten Coach of the Year following six seasons (1972, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1989) while Iowa’s Hayden Fry (1981, 1990, 1991) and Penn State’s Joe Paterno (1994, 2005, 2008) were each honored in three different years.

Among this year’s All-Big Ten first-team selections, 15 were members of the first or second team from a year ago, including seven first-team selections from 2008 who are on this year’s first team – Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko, Michigan State linebacker Jones, Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker, the Penn State trio of linebacker Navorro Bowman, quarterback Daryll Clark and defensive lineman Odrick and Wisconsin tight end Garrett Graham. In addition, Clay and Jones were unanimous selections by the media.

The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Honorees for football are Juice Williams of Illinois, Jammie Kirlew of Indiana, A.J. Edds of Iowa, David Moosman of Michigan, Blair White of Michigan State, Decker of Minnesota, Sherrick McManis of Northwestern, Kurt Coleman of Ohio State, Sean Lee of Penn State, Joey Elliott of Purdue and Chris Maragos of Wisconsin. These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.