LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 26, 2025) – A list of 36 student-athletes from across the nation have been nominated for the 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year, and included among the list of nominees was UT Permian Basin junior linebacker Tristan Exline.

A total of eight nominees hail from Super Region 1, eight from Super Region 2, eight from Super Region 3 and 12 from Super Region 4. Exline is one of the 12 nominees from Super Region Four. Schools from the Great American Conference (GAC), the Lone Star Conference (LSC), the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) make up the 43-team NCAA Super Region Four this season.

Exline is one of 17 nominees who played on teams that qualified for the DII playoffs and is one of 10 who advanced to the second round.

The sports information directors at the 159 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award. The 36 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday, December 1.

This year's initial list of 36 nominees features 20 seniors, 11 juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. In addition, the list includes 16 quarterbacks, 10 running backs, three wide receivers, three linebackers, a defensive lineman, a safety, a tight end and a punter/kicker. Exline is one of three linebacker that have been nominated for this year's Harlon Hill Trophy, and is the only linebacker nominated from Super Region Four.

In addition to Exline, the other nominees from Super Region Four are Southern Arkansas junior punter/kicker Jay Todd Baker, Black Hills State junior receiver TJ Chukwurah, Henderson State senior quarterback Andrew Edwards, New Mexico Highlands freshman running back Jeffery Jones, South Dakota Mines senior safety Will Lester, Central Washington junior quarterback Kennedy McGill, West Texas A&M senior quarterback RJ Martinez, Harding junior running back Andrew Miller, Western Colorado senior quarterback Drew Nash, Colorado State Pueblo senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff, and Texas A&M-Kingsville senior quarterback Jack Turner.

Central Missouri's Zach Zebrowski, who the Falcons played in the Heritage Bowl a year ago, repeated as the 2024 winner and became the fifth repeat winner in award history.

The winner of the 2025 award will be announced on Friday, December 19.

The Hill Trophy, which began in 1986, is named for the late Harlon Hill - the former University of North Alabama standout - who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears. It is sponsored and presented by the Little Rock Touchdown Club and Great American Conference.

Exline becomes the fourth Falcon to be nominated for the award, joining fellow linebacker Chris Hoad in 2019, wide receiver MJ Link in 2022, and quarterback Kenny Hrncir in 2023.

Exline was recently named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Linebacker of the Year. Exline started in all 11 games at mike linebacker and recorded over 100 total tackles during the regular season. He led the Falcons in tackles with 104, including 59 solo tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss of 79 yards, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles while adding one interception. Exline was second in the LSC in tackles, was tied for first in the conference with 9.5 tackles per game, and led the conference while also tying the UTPB record for tackles for loss in a single season. As a team, the UTPB defense was first in the conference in total yards allowed per game (301.2 ypg), first in passing yards allowed per game (159.9 ypg), and was second in points allowed per game (17.7 ppg). In all of NCAA Division II, Exline was seventh in tackles for loss, tied for 11th in solo tackles, and 21st in total tackles. Exline was the Preseason LSC Defensive Player of the Year and won a pair of LSC Defensive Player of the Week and D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week honors throughout the season. He was also a team captain and was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List (First Team – Defense). He is now a two-time LSC Linebacker of the Year, is a two-time First-Team All-LSC selection, and is the first LSC Defensive Player of the Year in program history.

Exline has helped lead the No. 10 Falcons' football team to a 10-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in the LSC. The Falcons tied for second place in the conference, but have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs after earning the first playoff win in program history with a 37-24 victory at No. 4 Colorado State University Pueblo last Saturday. The Falcons are the only team in the country to beat three top-five nationally-ranked teams this year.

UTPB is headed back to Colorado for the second round of the playoffs and will face off against Western Colorado University in their second-round game at 1 p.m. Mountain Time / 2 p.m. Central Time on Saturday, November 29, inside the Mountaineer Bowl in Gunnison, Colorado.

The full Super Region 4 nominees are listed below:

SUPER REGION #4	Pos.	School	Cl	Hometown
Jay Todd Baker	P/K	Southern Arkansas	Jr.	Magnolia, AR
TJ Chukwurah	WR	Black Hills State	Jr.	Arlington, TX
Andrew Edwards	QB	Henderson State	Sr.	Bentonville, AR
Tristan Exline	LB	UT Permian Basin	Jr.	China Springs, TX
Jeffery Jones	RB	New Mexico Highlands	Fr.	St. Petersburg, FL
Will Lester	S	South Dakota Mines	Sr.	Arvada, CO
Kennedy McGill	QB	Central Washington	Jr.	Bothell, WA
RJ Martinez	QB	West Texas A&M	Sr.	Austin, TX
Andrew Miller	RB	Harding	Jr.	Searcy, AR
Drew Nash	QB	Western Colorado	Sr.	Torrance, CA
Reggie Retzlaff	WR	CSU Pueblo	Sr.	Corona, CA
Jack Turner	QB	Texas A&M-Kingsville	Sr.	Round Rock, TX