The trophy has been presented since 1986 and was contractually given to the winner of the BCS National Championship Game and its predecessors from 1992 to 2013.

The AFCA asked schools who felt they had a legitimate bid for the title to submit their reasons why so that their committee could hear the case and decide.

[4] Since then, TCU (1935, 1938),[5][6] Texas A&M (1939),[7] and Oklahoma State (1945)[8] have received AFCA national championship selections and been awarded The Coaches’ Trophy.

During the BCS era, the trophy was presented to the winning team in an on-field ceremony after the title game.

1 in the final Coaches Poll of the season in a celebration at that team's stadium sometime after the College Football Playoff National Championship.

[14] The commission consisted of former college football coaches Grant Teaff, Vince Dooley, and R. C.

[14] † Photos of the trophies retroactively awarded to the TCU and SMU teams of 1935 show that different wording was used.