Attendees Announced for 2022 ACC Football Kickoff

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday the 42 student-athletes who will attend the 2022 ACC Football Kickoff, July 20-21, at The Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the second consecutive year, each of the league’s 14 teams will bring three players to the annual event. 

ACC Network will broadcast live from the ACC Football Kickoff. The two days of expansive coverage will begin at 9 a.m. on both Wednesday and Thursday and the 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports will provide the event’s most robust television coverage to date.

Among the offensive players in attendance at ACC Kickoff will be nine quarterbacks, seven offensive linemen, four wide receivers, two tight ends and two running backs. Defensively, eight linebackers are scheduled to attend, along with seven defensive linemen and three defensive backs.

Four of the quarterbacks at this year’s event ranked among the ACC’s top five in passing yards per game last season – Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong (first, 404.5 yards per game), Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman (third, 302 ypg), Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke (fourth, 293.1 ypg) and NC State’s Devin Leary (fifth, 286.1 ypg).

Hartman threw 39 touchdown passes in 2021 to rank second in the conference and leads returning ACC quarterbacks this season. Leary threw for 35 touchdowns last fall and Armstrong for 31.

The ACC continued to establish itself as the Conference of Quarterbacks in 2021, and many of the leading players return this season. Armstrong ranked fourth nationally in total passing yards (4,449) while Hartman (4,228) ranked seventh. Hartman’s 39 touchdown passes tied for fifth nationally, and Leary’s 35 TD passes ranked 10th. Armstrong stood second nationally in total yards per game (427.3), and Hartman (327.9) placed seventh. Louisville’s Malik Cunningham led the league with 20 rushing touchdowns, while also averaging 218.5 yards passing. Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec (255.8 passing ypg in 2021), Clemson’s DJ Uiagalelei (15 career starts; 196.5 total offense/game in 2021), Florida State’s Jordan Travis (14 career starts, holds school career record for QB rushing yards and rushing touchdowns) and Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader (14 rushing TDs in 2021) round out the quarterback contingent at media day.

North Carolina’s Josh Downs, who led the league in receptions per game and was second in receiving yards per game, is among the Tar Heels’ three representatives. Georgia Tech’s Dylan Leonard and Miami’s Will Mallory – two of the league’s top tight ends – will attend the event in Charlotte. 

Four of the top 10 and six of the top 18 tacklers from last year will be in Charlotte, including Virginia’s Nick Jackson, who led the league with 117 stops (9.8 per game). Syracuse linebacker Mikel Jones (2nd, 9.3 per game), NC State’s Drake Thomas (4th, 8.3) Duke’s Shaka Heyward (6th, 8.2 per game), Florida State’s Jammie Robinson (10th, 7.1), Virginia Tech’s Dax Hollifield (11th, 7.0 per game) and Pitt’s SirVocea Dennis (18th, 6.7 per game) also will attend ACC Kickoff. Linebacker Yasir Abdullah, the league’s returning leader in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (17.5), will represent Louisville.

The ACC Kickoff student-athletes hail from 18 states with eight from Florida, seven from North Carolina and six from Georgia. Three call the commonwealth of Virginia home, with two each from Ohio, Connecticut and New Jersey. Eleven states are each represented by one player, along with Quebec, Canada (Syracuse offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron).

The complete list of 2022 ACC Football Kickoff student-athletes include: