Former University of Texas and NFL linebacker Sam Acho has signed a multi-year deal to join ESPN’s comprehensive college football coverage, primarily serving as a lead studio voice on college football Saturdays on ESPN2. Acho will also call select college football matchups this fall.

“Sam is a welcome addition to ESPN,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN senior vice president of production. “Our viewers will quickly come to know and appreciate Sam’s trademark energy, his passion for the game, his dynamic analysis, and his ability to connect with commentators, coaches and players alike.”

In addition to his college football duties, which include regular appearances on SportsCenter, Get Up and College Football Live, the Lifetime Longhorn will contribute as an NFL analyst across ESPN studio programming.

“I’m beyond excited to be joining the talented team at ESPN,” Acho said. “You always want to be associated with the best, and the people at ESPN are just that. I’ll be breaking down college football and the NFL, and having a ton of fun along the way. Looking forward to the journey ahead and can’t wait to get started.”

The 2010 Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year, Acho played college football at the University of Texas, where he received the William V. Campbell Trophy as college football’s top scholar-athlete, and the NCAA Top VIII award, recognizing the top eight student-athletes in collegiate athletics. Acho graduated from the business honors program at UT’s McCombs School of Business in December 2010 with a double major in business and marketing.

Acho was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2011 and played four seasons as a linebacker with the team before signing with the Chicago Bears before the 2015-16 season, spending four years in the Windy City. He concluded his nearly decade-long professional career with stints suiting up for the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Acho is a two-time nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, the league’s only award that recognizes both civic and professional contributions. Acho is also a vice president of the NFL Players Association, an organization in which he has served since his second year in the NFL.

He received his MBA in 2015 at Arizona State’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and is the founder and president of Athletes for Justice, an organization that unites professional and everyday athletes globally to fight injustice. Acho is also the vice president of Living Hope Christian Ministries, which provides aid to Nigeria through medical mission trips.

An author, ambassador and activist, Acho released Let the World See You: How to Be Real in a World Full of Fakes in October 2020, sharing anecdotes and lessons to reveal how readers can overcome their fears and discover their true selves. Acho is the brother of New York Times bestselling author and former ESPN football analyst, Emmanuel Acho.

The full roster of ESPN college football commentators for the 2021 season will be announced later this summer.

The post Former Longhorn Sam Acho joins ESPN as studio analyst appeared first on Texas Sports.

CLEVELAND – For just the second time in Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup history, an institution other than Stanford University sits atop the standings at the end of a season, with the 2020-21 Cup heading to Austin for The University of Texas. The Longhorns took home three national championships – men’s swimming and diving and both women’s rowing and women’s tennis – and a runner-up finish in women’s volleyball. Texas took home the title with 1252 total points.
 
In the 28-year history of the Cup, Texas has finished second overall three times prior to its Cup win this year, including 19 top-10 finishes in the final standings. The Longhorns scored in all four mandatory sports – women’s volleyball and basketball and men’s basketball and baseball – and 13 out of the 15 additional sports.
 
The Stanford Cardinal finished second overall with 1195.75 points with a pair of national championships in women’s basketball, and men’s gymnastics. The Cardinal tallied scores in 17 total sports, including two of the four mandatory sports, women’s basketball and baseball. Stanford finished second with 1195.75 points.
 
Third and fourth place finishers, Michigan and North Carolina, were separated by just .25 points, 1126.50-1126.25. The Wolverines took home the women’s gymnastics national championship, along with 10 top-10 showings across the 18 sports that they scored in. North Carolina took home the field hockey national title and recorded five top-three finishes – men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis.
 
Rounding out the top five is Florida with 1121.75 points. The Gators won the men’s tennis title and had six additional top-five finishes – women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, men’s swimming and diving, men’s indoor and outdoor track & field and women’s lacrosse,  
 
At the conference level, the SEC leads all Division I conferences with eight institutions finishing in the top-25.

The post University of Texas takes home Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup appeared first on Texas Sports.