Thorson, Alviti on Northwestern's 2015 Leadership Council

Redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson and redshirt sophomore quarterback Matt Alviti are both on Northwestern's 2015 player-elected Leadership Council. A program spokesman released the list of 14 players on the Council to Inside NU Thursday.

Thorson and Alviti are two of the three QBs competing for the starting quarterback job. The third, Zack Oliver, a senior, was not elected to the leadership council. The three split first-team reps during spring practice, and head coach Pat Fitzgerald has said the competition is still open.

The leadership council is elected by players prior to the start of spring practice, and always includes at least two players from each academic class.

Thorson was one of two players from his class elected, though the other, Justin Jackson, started as a true freshman. Thorson redshirted.

Alviti will serve his second year on the leadership council. He is one of four players from his academic class, the other three being Matt Harris, Anthony Walker and Jayme Taylor.

Seven seniors were elected, but Oliver was not one of them.

The leadership council meets regularly with Fitzgerald and coaches throughout the season to discuss both on-field and off-field issues, and make decisions that affect the program — from small things like uniform combinations, to bigger, more important issues like game preparation plans. The council is Fitzgerald's creation, and originated in 2008.

Here are the 14 players on the 2015 Council:

2015 Leadership Council

(Number in parentheses is the number of years the player has been elected to the leadership council. For example, 2015 is Christian Jones' third year on the council)

Seniors

WR Christian Jones (3)
DL Sean McEvilly (3)
SB Dan Vitale (3)
DL Deonte Gibson (2)
S Traveon Henry (2)
DL C.J. Robbins (1)
SB Tom Hruby (1)

Juniors

WR Stephen Buckley (1)
CB Matt Harris (1)

Sophomores

QB Matt Alviti (2)
LB Anthony Walker (1)
SB Jayme Taylor (1)
RB Justin Jackson (1)

Freshmen

QB Clayton Thorson (1)