BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell has placed five on CAA Football's 2023 all-conference teams, headlined by First Team offensive tackle
Mike Edwards.
Edwards is joined by his bookend counterpart,
Tyler McLellan, a Third Team All-CAA honoree. Linebacker
CJ Tillman also took Third Team honors, while long snapper
Bobby Cleary and
VJ Wilkins, both as a wide receiver and kick returner, earned honorable mention nods.
Monmouth junior running back Jaden Shirden repeating as the league's Offensive Player of the Year and UAlbany senior linebacker Dylan Kelly earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award.
Other major award recipients included UAlbany's Greg Gattuso as CAA Coach of the Year, New Hampshire senior running back/returner Dylan Laube as Special Teams Player of the Year, UAlbany freshman running back Griffin Woodell as Offensive Rookie of the Year and Rhode Island freshman cornerback Syeed Gibbs as Defensive Rookie of the Year. New Hampshire junior quarterback Max Brosmer was honored with the Chuck Boone Leadership and Excellence Award.
CAA Football's all-conference awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Edwards, an All-American in 2022, earned first team all-conference accolades for the second straight season, last year in the Big South Conference, starting and playing in 10 games for the Camels in 2023.
McLellan, meanwhile, becomes a four-time all-conference honoree (first, second or third team included), also earning First Team All-Big South honors in 2021, as well as Second Team accolades in 2019 and 2020. The graduate student started all 11 games of the season at right tackle.
The duo helped push Campbell to over 400 yards of total offense six times, including 613 yards in a 56-7 win at The Citadel, the third most ever in a single game and a school record against an NCAA Division I opponent.
Campbell's offensive line ranks No. 2 in the FCS in pass blocking efficiency (93.2), according to PFF. The CU offense also leads the CAA and stands fifth nationally in pass completion percentage (.702), 10
th in first down offense (250), 15
th in third down conversion percentage (.454) and 17
th overall team passing efficiency (150.84).
Tillman finished fourth in the CAA with 98 total tackles, earning all-conference honors for the second straight season (Second Team All-Big South in 2022). The Rockingham, N.C. native posted double figure tackles five times over the season, including a career-high 19 against then-No. 4 William & Mary in the 2023 opener. A junior, Tillman also gathered 5.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, forcing two fumbles.
In his first season as a Camel, Cleary handled nearly every short and long snap without an off-target snap, playing in all 11 games. The junior from Slinger, Wisc. was credited with three tackles on the year, while downing multiple punts, and did not allow a blocked punt.
Also a finalist for the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award, presented to the FCS national freshman of the year, Wilkins rookie campaign with 52 catches for 546 yards and four touchdowns, tacking on four rushes for 22 yards with 616 kick return yards, ranking ninth in the FCS, and a 21.2 yards per return average. A Pfafftown, N.C. native, Wilkins was twice named CAA Freshman of the Week this season, posting five games of 50 or more yards receiving in 2023.
The Camels finished their inaugural CAA season at 5-6 overall and 4-4 in league play, becoming the first new CAA member to win four or more games in its inaugural season since Old Dominion in 2011 (nine teams).
