Senior safety Marty Gibbons and defensive coordinator Chris Shula will be honored at the 27th Annual Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on March 3.
 
Gibbons will be one of 10 student-athletes receiving a postgraduate award while Shula will be honored as the college assistant coach of the year.
 
Gibbons, a second team All-OAC honoree, will graduate in May with a Bachelor's in physical education and currently holds a 3.308 GPA. He is looking to begin his coaching career as a graduate assistant in a major college football program and will look to follow his father's footsteps into coaching.
 
"I am really humbled to have an unbelievable organization like the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation award me with a scholarship that recognizes well rounded student-athletes," said Gibbons. "In truth, I would not be receiving this award without having such amazing teammates, coaches, family members and a school that lives out a virtuous mission."
 
"I'm just really proud of Marty," said head coach Tom Arth. "If anybody deserves any kind of postseason recognition, especially student-athlete recognition it's Marty Gibbons. He's meant so much to our program, not only as a player, but as a leader. He's someone who represents John Carroll incredibly well."
 
Gibbons was instrumental as part of John Carroll's defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense and scoring defense each of the last two seasons. He was part of an effort that helped JCU to its first NCAA Division III Football Championship quarterfinal appearance since 2002 and helped the Blue and Gold win the second-most games in school history in 2014. He finished the year with 45 tackles and two interceptions.
 
Said Arth, "I feel like he's been a coach for the last four years in our program. I'm excited to see the opportunities that he has going forward and I know he's going to be a great coach at whatever level he chooses."
 
Shula, one of the nation's elite, young defensive coordinates, had John Carroll's defense ranked amongst the nation's elite in 2014. Under his watch, Shula had one player earn All-American honors, six earn all-region accolades and nine of his charges earn All-OAC honors. Shula's defense ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense and scoring defense. His defense only allowed the opposition to convert on third-down 24-percent of the time, a mark third in Division III. His unit posted three shutouts on the year.
 
"I'm honored to receive the award from the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundaion," said Shula. "It is truly a reflection of the great coaching staff and great players we have here at John Carroll. We have a staff that is second to none that starts with Coach Arth. I cannot express what a pleasure it was to work these coaches and our defensive players, especially our seniors."
 
Said Arth, "Again, I'm really proud of Chris. He was in a tough situation coming in this year having to kind of follow up to what we did in 2013 with how good our defense was. He exceeded every expectation that I had, that our players had and our coaches had. He's an incredible person and it means so much to us to have him here. We're fortunate and blessed for Chris to be here. He's only going to get better, he's going to keep getting better. Our defense will keep getting better with him leading the charges.
"It's always about the players and we're blessed," continued Arth. "We have some incredibly talented and incredibly hard working players in our program. Our responsibility as coaches, and Chris understands this greatly, is to put our players in position to be successful, to use the skills that God's given them to their full extent. I think Chris did a phenomenal job recognizing that this year and allowing our players to have opportunities to succeed."
 
The featured speaker of reception will be Oliver Luck, who was recently named Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the NCAA.
 
Those wishing to attend the banquet can contact Erin Dengler at 440-788-7472 or neonff@nacda.com. Tickets are $50 each or $500 for a table of 10. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner to follow.