4 Alabama players take SEC individual honors

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - SEC champion Alabama had a league-leading four winners as the SEC on Wednesday announced its 2015 football individual awards.

The honors were voted on by the league's 14 head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.

Alabama's Derrick Henry was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Reggie Ragland was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Tennessee's Evan Berry was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year, Texas A&M's Christian Kirk was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and Alabama's Ryan Kelly was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Kelly, along with Arkansas' Sebastian Tretola earned the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. First-year Florida head coach Jim McElwain was named the SEC Coach of the Year.

The Crimson Tide are the first to have both an offensive and defensive player of the year winner in the same year since the league began the award in 2003. Alabama has also claimed either the offensive or defensive player of the year the last three seasons. Tennessee's Berry is the first Volunteer to earn an individual award since his brother, Eric, won SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008.

The year marks only the second time in league history that a pair of players have shared the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, with both of those occasions being an Alabama and Arkansas representative. The last time was in 2007, as the Crimson Tide's Andre Smith and the Razorbacks' Jonathan Luigs claimed the honor.

Henry, who on Monday was announced as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, has rushed for a school and SEC-record 1,986 yards and 23 touchdowns on 339 carries, while leading the Crimson Tide to the 2015 SEC Championship and the second seed in the College Football Playoff.

Ragland leads the Crimson Tide this season with 90 total tackles and led UA in tackles in seven of its 12 games this season.

Berry became the first Tennessee player in school history to earn First Team All-SEC honors as a return specialist yesterday. The sophomore leads the nation in kick return average (38.3 yards).

Kirk set a new Texas A&M freshman single-season record for all-purpose yards with 1,659, which ranks fifth in the overall school history.

In his first season at the helm, McElwain guided the Florida Gators to a 10-3 record and their first SEC East Division Title since 2009. McElwain took over a Florida program that had gone 11-13 the past two seasons, making a quick turnaround en route to landing the Gators to a spot in Atlanta this past weekend for the SEC Championship.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "4 Alabama players take SEC individual honors ."