Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Earns Pop Warner Trophy

Al Sermeno/KLC fotos

Jason-Keawe Sagapolutele has been named as the winner of the 2025 Pop Warner Trophy.

REDWOOD SHORES – The Glenn “Pop” Warner Memorial Trophy has returned after nearly two decades and the first two honorees of the reinvigorated award, which honors the best college football player in the West, are California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Stanford football general manager and former Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck. Sagapolutele is being honored with the 2025 award, while Luck is picking up the honor retroactively for his performance during the 2010 season.

“Jaron is a tremendous football player and person who had a great start to his collegiate career in 2025,” said Cal football general manager and 1983 Pop Warner Trophy winner Ron Rivera. “We believe he is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can become and the success he can lead our football program to. It is an honor for him to be recognized as the winner of the 2025 Pop Warner Trophy.”

“I got to see the presentation of the 1977 Pop Warner Trophy to Guy Benjamin, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” said former Stanford quarterback John Paye, who spearheaded the effort to reestablish the Pop Warner Trophy. “I am super excited to be part of the group that is giving a rebirth to the Pop Warner Trophy. He had a tremendous impact on the game of football that so many of us love, and it is an honor to introduce him to a new generation.”

Sagapolutele and Luck will be presented with their honors at the National Football Foundation’s Northern California event at the Grand Bay Hotel in Redwood Shores on Saturday, March 14. Doors open at 5 p.m. PT, with the formal program to begin at 6 p.m. and the presentation to Sagapolutele and Luck at 6:15 p.m.

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Notes (2025 Freshman Season)

• On3 True Freshman All-American, two-time ACC Quarterback of the Week, four-time ACC Rookie of the Week, Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week and Manning Award Quarterback of the Week
• Completed 316-of-492 passes for 3,454 yards with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions while starting all 13 games
• Had the second-highest single-season totals ever by a Cal freshman for completions, attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns to only Jared Goff in 2013
• Led the ACC in completions per game (24.31) and was third in the league in total completions, while he was also third among Power 4 quarterbacks in both, as well as fifth nationally in completions per game and sixth in total completions
• Passed for 200 or more yards in all 13 of his games and is the only Power 4 and second FBS player to start his collegiate career with 13 consecutive contests of 200 passing yards or more
• Became only the second true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for Cal (at Oregon State) with the only other being Goff in 2013
• Finished 31-of-40 for 330 yards passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions in a 38-35 home win over No. 21 SMU in the regular-season finale with both his yards passing and touchdown passes career highs
• Did not throw an interception in his final 178 pass attempts, which is just seven short of the school record of 185 set by Goff in 2015

Glenn “Pop” Warner Notes

• Inducted as a coach into the College Football Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1951
• Widely recognized for his many contributions to the modern version of football, including the single and double-wing formations that were precursors to the modern spread and shotgun formations, as well as the three-point stance
• Played collegiate football at Cornell from 1892-94 and after graduation would go on to coach football for more than four decades at Carlisle, Cornell, Georgia, Iowa State, Pitt, San José[SS1]  State, Stanford and Temple

Glenn “Pop” Warner Memorial Trophy All-Time Winners
1949 – Eddie LeBaron (Pacific)
1950 – Russ Pomero (Stanford)
1951 – Ollie Matson (San Francisco)
1952 – Jim Sears (USC)
1953 – Bob Garrett (Stanford)
1954 – George Shaw (Oregon)
1955 – Bob Davenport (UCLA)
1956 – Jon Arnett (USC)
1957 – Joe Francis (Oregon State)
1958 – Joe Kapp (California)
1959 – Chris Burford (Stanford)
1960 – Billy Kilmer (UCLA)
1961 – Chon Gallegos (San Jose State)
1962 – Terry Baker (Oregon State)
1963 – Vern Burke (Oregon State)
1964 – Craig Morton (California)
1965 – Mike Garrett (USC)
1966 – Pete Pifer (Oregon State)
1967 – Gary Beban (UCLA
1968 – O.J. Simpson (USC)
1969 – Don Parish (Stanford)
1970 – Jim Plunkett (Stanford)
1971 – Jeff Siemon (Stanford)
1972 – Mike Rae (USC)
1973 – Lynn Swann (USC)
1974 – Anthony Davis (USC)
1975 – Chuck Muncie (California)
1976 – Ricky Bell (USC)
1977 – Guy Benjamin (Stanford)
1978 – Jerry Robinson (UCLA)
1979 – Charles White (USC)
1980 – Ken Margerum (Stanford)
1981 – Marcus Allen (USC)
1982 – John Elway (Stanford)
1983 – Ron Rivera (California)
1984 – Jack Del Rio (USC)
1985 – Reuben Mayes (Washington State)
1986 – Dave Wyman (Stanford)
1987 – Mike Perez (San José State)
1988 – Rodney Peete (USC)
1989 – Tim Ryan (USC)
1990 – Greg Lewis (Washington)
1991 – Tommy Vardell (Stanford)
1992 – Glyn Milburn (Stanford)
1993 – Johnnie Morton (USC)
1994 – Steve Stenstrom (Stanford)
1995 – Keyshawn Johnson (USC)
1996 – Jake Plummer (Arizona State)
1997 – Skip Hicks (UCLA)
1998 – Cade McNown (USC
1999 – Deltha O’Neal (California)
2000 – Marques Tuiasosopo (Washington)
2001 – None
2002 – Carson Palmer (USC)
2003 – Dave Ball (UCLA)
2004 – J.J. Arrington (California)
2005-09 – None
2010 – Andrew Luck (Stanford)
2011-24 – None
2025 – Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (California)
*Award honored the top senior in the West from 1949-2004 and the top player in the West from 2005-present