As a point of reference, I went into the O'brien site to understand more about the voting process. It turns out that the fan voting counts for only 5 percent of the total vote in each round. There is a committee of journalist, former coaches and others that make the other 95 percent of the vote.
The criteria for the committee is the following:
Watch List
Watch List candidates are determined by a subset of the Selection Committee and approved by the Executive Committee. This same subset will vote weekly for the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week which will be announced via weekly press releases from the beginning of the season until semifinalists are announced.
The Davey O'Brien Watch List will be released July 17.
Semifinalists
The ballot will consist of all 125 FBS quarterbacks. The Selection Committee will be asked to select their top 16 candidates from the ballot. Ballots will be issued the week of Oct. 28 and are due Nov. 3.
Beginning Sept. 3 fans will have all 125 FBS starting quarterbacks to choose from until the voting closes at noon CT on Nov. 3. The Fan Vote will count for 5% of the overall semifinalist vote.
Sixteen semifinalists will be announced Nov. 4.
Finalists
The ballot is comprised of the 16 semifinalists. The Selection Committee will be asked to select their top three choices. Ballots will be issued the week of Nov. 18 and are due Nov. 24.
Beginning Nov. 4 fans will have the semifinalists to choose from until the voting closes at noon CT on Nov. 24. The Fan Vote will count for 5% of the overall finalist vote.
The three candidates with the most votes will be submitted to the Davey O'Brien Executive Committee for approval. Finalists will be announced on Nov. 25.
Winner
The ballot is comprised of the three finalists. The Selection Committee will be asked to rank the finalists. Ballots will be issued the week of Dec. 2 and are due Dec. 8.
Beginning Nov. 25 fans will have the finalists to choose from until the voting closes at noon CT on Dec. 8. The Fan Vote will count for 5% of the overall winner vote.
The 2013 Davey O'Brien Winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN Dec. 12 and will be honored at the 37th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 16-17, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Here's a list of the
committee members
In the spirit of Davey O'Brien and his great legacy, the Selection Committee, which is comprised of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners, is asked to evaluate each candidate on the following criteria:
Quarterback skills/athletic ability
Academics
Reputation as a team player
Character
Leadership
Sportsmanship
If you look at the criteria, Brett has a heck of a chance of beating out Manziel
