CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – For the second-straight season, Austin Peay State University graduate offensive lineman Chandler Kirton has been named a finalist for the 2025 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Stats Perform.
Kirton received the United Athletic Conference's nomination for the award for the second-straight season and is one of 13 finalists – one from each FCS conference – for the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. Named after the late schoolteacher and wife of legendary coach Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson, the 11th-annual award is presented to an FCS student-athlete who excels not only on the playing field and in the classroom, but in the community and beyond.
Austin Peay has earned the UAC's nomination for the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award in three-straight seasons after receiving the Atlantic Sun Conference's nomination in 2022. Prior to Kirton's back-to-back nominations as a finalist, Jau'Von Young was the UAC's nominee in 2023, and Chukwuemeka Manning Jr. was the ASUN's nominee in 2022.
A two-year team captain and four-year starter on the Governors offensive line, Kirton is a two-time All-Conference selection, earning First Team All-UAC honors in 2023 and All-ASUN recognition in 2022. Kirton has started a program-record 46-consecutive games, breaking the record of 44-straight starts which was set by offensive lineman Byron Glass (2015-18).
Kirton, who also is a finalist for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy®, graduated from Austin Peay in December 2024 with a 3.92 grade-point average while earning his degree in management. He currently maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA while pursuing his Master's of Business Administration from APSU. Kirton was recognized as the 2024 United Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is two-time Collegiate Sports Communications Academic All-District selection; he also was a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy in 2024.
Kirton has been a member of the Austin Peay Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since 2023. He also has volunteered his time as a tutor in APSU Athletics Study Hall, and he has given his time to Buddy Ball, Operation Christmas Child, the SAAC Canned Food Drive, and helped raise funds for pediatric cancer research at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
The recipient of the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award will be announced on Dec. 9 and then honored at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show, Jan. 3, in Nashville, Tennessee.
