Tennessee senior long snapper Matthew Salansky on Tuesday was again named a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, according to a release from the Burlsworth Trophy committee.
Salansky was also a nominee last season of the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given annually to “the most outstanding football player in American who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field,” according to the committee.
The 5-foot-11, 245-pound Salansky has been Tennessee’s long snapper the past four seasons. He’s had 427 snaps in his career — 62 on field goals, 198 on extra points and 167 on punts — while also collecting five special teams tackles. He’s also twice been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
One of the lesser-known (to the public) leaders in the Tennessee program, Salansky has been named a captain for six of the Vols’ eight games so far this season. He has become a mainstay at midfield for the pregame coin toss — a somewhat rare distinction for a team’s long snapper.
A native of Knoxville-area Morristown, Tennessee, Salansky grew up dreaming of playing football at Tennessee, and long snapping was the way for him to achieve that goal. His uncle, Casey Woods, was a Tennessee letterman at receiver and holder from 2005-07, and his mother and both of his brothers graduated from Tennessee. Woods is currently the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at SMU.
Salansky snapped at Morristown West High School but also started at linebacker and played running back. He helped the Trojans reach the Tennessee Class 5A state playoffs quarterfinal round in 2015 and 2016, and he collected 84 tackles, one sack and one interception as a senior in 2018.
After redshirting his first season at Tennessee in 2019, he earned the starting spot as a redshirt freshman in 2020 and hasn’t surrendered it. He would, in theory, be eligible to take advantage of the NCAA’s Covid eligibility exception and return next season, but there’s been no announcement of a decision on that front. Most players wait until after the season to make that decision, or at least publicly announce it.
The Bulsworth Trophy is named in honor of Brandon Burlsworth, a former University of Arkansas walk-on and All-American offensive lineman. The award ceremony to honor the three finalists and to announce the 2023 winner will take place on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Click HERE to see the complete list of 2023 Burlsworth Trophy nominees.
Salansky and the 17th-ranked Vols will host UConn on Saturday at noon Eastern at Neyland Stadium in a homecoming game that will be broadcast by SEC Network.