April 14, 2011

Thirteen of the nation’s top NCAA head coaches including Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Frank Beamer and Jimbo Fisher are scheduled to team up with former collegiate and professional athletes to compete for $415,000 in scholarship money at the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament May 1-3.

The nation’s premier head coach and celebrity golf event will be held at the beautiful Reynolds Plantation resort on Lake Oconee outside Atlanta. Over the past four years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge has provided $1.9 million in scholarship and charity to its participating universities.

Over the three-day event, several tournament rounds will be played in addition to the featured, televised round of coaches and celebrities. The complete field of head coaches, professional golfers, former athletes and celebrities includes six Heisman Trophy winners, 13 members of the College Football Hall of Fame, 22 All-Americans, 12 Coach of the Year winners, eight NFL Hall of Famers, 13 Super Bowl Champions, and players whose accomplishments combine to total 162 NFL All-Pro or Pro Bowl selections.

“In keeping with our mission to be the leader in charitable and scholarship donations, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is honored to host all these coaches and players – getting them off the football field and onto the golf course to compete for scholarships for their universities,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO.

The field of competitors for the featured round is scheduled to include three former winning teams including 2010 tournament champions Jimbo Fisher and Terrell Buckley, two-time winners Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe from South Carolina who won the event in 2008 and 2009 and Frank Beamer and Dell Curry from Virginia Tech who won in 2007. The two past champions, Florida State and South Carolina, faced each other in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl where FSU became the first school to win both the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge and the Chick-fil-A Bowl in the same year.

The 13 university teams will be vying for the $120,000 first-place prize with all teams receiving a portion of the $415,000 scholarship purse.

The field of competitors for the featured event is scheduled to include:

Team Head Coach Celebrity

Alabama Nick Saban Chris Mohr

Clemson Dabo Swinney Steve Fuller

Florida State Jimbo Fisher Terrell Buckley

Georgia Tech Paul Johnson Jon Barry

Maryland Randy Edsall Stan Gelbaugh

Miami Al Golden TBD

Mississippi State Dan Mullen Fred McCrary

N.C. State Tom O’Brien Torry Holt

Ole Miss Houston Nutt Wesley Walls

South Carolina Steve Spurrier Sterling Sharpe

Tennessee Derek Dooley TBD

Virginia Tech Frank Beamer Del Curry

Wake Forest Jim Grobe Riley Skinner

The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge main event features pairings that include a university head coach and a celebrity or former athlete from the same school competing in a scramble format against other university teams from around the country.

Past winners: 2010 Florida State (Fisher/Buckley/ -7), 2009 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12, playoff winners), 2008 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12), 2007 Virginia Tech (Beamer/Curry / -10).

In addition to the $415,000 scholarship purse, additional proceeds will be donated to selected charities including Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Homes. The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is a significant contributor to the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s overall charitable and scholarship donations. The Chick-fil-A Bowl leads all bowls in the country in charitable giving, including gifts of more than $7 million since 2002.

The tournament is being taped by ESPN for broadcast in the fall. The date of the broadcast will be announced this summer.

For more information on the event, visit www.Chick-fil-ABowlChallenge.com.

About the Chick-fil-A Bowl

The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and hosts the longest-running rivalry series between the ACC and SEC. Now in its 44th year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has established itself as one of the nation’s elite bowl games with a string of 14 consecutive sellouts and has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the nation. Ten of the last 19 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $100 million in team payouts during its 43-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $7 million to organizations in need since 2002. Other events under the Chick-fil-A Bowl brand include the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge head coach and celebrity golf event and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game season-opening game over Labor Day weekend which will host two projected pre-season top 25 teams, Boise State and Georgia, to open the 2011 season Sept. 3.