Another year, another chance at induction into the College Football Hall of Fame for former University of Utah greats Alex Smith and Eric Weddle.
The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame ballot was released Monday and once again, Smith and Weddle made the list, alongside others with ties to college football in Utah, such as Haloti Ngata (Highland High/Oregon defensive tackle), Josh Heupel (Weber State/Snow College quarterback) and Taylor Stubblefield (former Utah wide receivers coach who was a standout wideout at Purdue).
This year’s ballot includes 78 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 101 players and 32 coaches from the divisional ranks.
Some of the newcomers on the ballot are almost surefire first-ballot inductions, such as Randy Moss (Marshall), Michael Vick (Virginia Tech) and Larry Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh).
“All three are good bets to make the Hall as first-time nominees,” The Athletic’s David Ubben writes.
Additional FBS standouts on the ballot include:
- Flozell Adams, Michigan State.
- Montee Ball, Wisconsin.
- Aaron Beasley, West Virginia.
- Eric Bieniemy, Colorado.
- Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State.
- Jerome Brown, Miami (Fla).
- Larry Burton, Purdue.
- Rocky Calmus, Oklahoma.
- Gregg Carr, Auburn.
- Mark Carrier, USC.
- Ki-Jana Carter, Penn State.
- Russell Carter, SMU.
- Matt Cavanaugh, Pittsburgh.
- Dallas Clark, Iowa.
- Marco Coleman.
- Tim Couch, Kentucky.
- Brad Culpepper, Florida.
- Kenneth Davis, TCU.
- Jarett Dillard, Rice.
- Ken Dorsey, Miami (Fla).
- D.J. Dozier, Penn State.
- Vaughn Dunbar, Indiana.
- Warrick Dunn, Florida State.
- Greg Eslinger, Minnesota.
- Deon Figures, Colorado.
- Willie Gault, Tennessee.
- Toby Gerhart, Stanford.
- Dan Hampton, Arkansas.
- Kevin Hardy, Illinois.
- Graham Harrell, Texas Tech.
- Leotis Harris, Arkansas.
- Marvin Harrison, Syracuse.
- Garrison Hearst, Georgia.
- Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh.
- Ken Huff, North Carolina.
- Michael Huff, Texas.
- Daymeion Hughes, California.
- Steve Hutchinson, Michigan.
- Bradie James, LSU.
- Ed King, Auburn.
- Levon Kirkland, Clemson.
- Olin Kreutz, Washington.
- Antonio Langham, Alabama.
- James Laurinaitis, Ohio State.
- Ryan Leaf, Washington State.
- John Lee, UCLA.
- Andy Levitre, Oregon State.
- Todd Lyght, Notre Dame.
- Marshawn Lynch, California.
- Herman Moore, Virginia.
- Kellen Moore, Boise State.
- Terence Newman, Kansas State.
- Ken Norton Jr., UCLA.
- Michael Oher, Mississippi.
- Julius Peppers, North Carolina.
- Paul Posluszny, Penn State.
- Antwaan Randle El, Indiana.
- Simeon Rice, Illinois.
- Ron Rivera, California.
- Matt Russell, Colorado.
- Larry Seivers, Tennessee.
- Dewey Selmon, Oklahoma.
- Richard Seymour, Georgia.
- Darrin Smith, Miami (Fla).
- Kevin Smith, Texas A&M.
- Takeo Spikes, Auburn.
- Terrell Suggs, Arizona State.
- Dennis Thurman, USC.
- Chris Ward, Ohio State.
- Peter Warrick, Florida State.
- Luis Zendejas, Arizona State.
The full ballot can be found here.
Just being on the ballot is an accomplishment in and of itself, though.
Per the National Football Foundation, of the 5.62 million individuals who have played college football since the first official game in 1869, only 1,074 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, which is less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%).
“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.62 million people have played college football and only 1,074 players have been inducted,” NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell said in a release. “The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible.
“Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.”
Will Mike Leach be inducted posthumously?
Mike Leach, who died on Dec. 12, 2022, won’t be eligible for nomination into the Hall of Fame for three years.
“We never just automatically just put somebody in, whether it’s a coach or a player,” Hatchell told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. “It could be the first time they’re eligible, but there’s always a waiting period. So, for a coach, it’s three years. Which we’re sure would be forthcoming. Those all get evaluated pretty carefully.”
Coaches are eligible for Hall of Fame induction three years after retirement or immediately after retirement if that coach is at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at age 75.
More importantly, where Leach is concerned, candidates must be a head coach for at least 10 years, win at least 100 games and have a .600 winning rate.
Leach qualifies based on the first two metrics. However, he finished with a .596 winning percentage across 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State (158-107).
Will the Hall of Fame make an exception?
“Is there anybody else in there below 60%? There might be, way in the back,” Hatchell told Dodd. “They’ve been doing this for many years. We’ve been told to keep it pretty strong at 60%. That comes from coaches, honors court, the whole thing.
“... “You try to take the emotion out of it. We love Mike. He was always unbelievably helpful to us on the issues. He’s a great friend of the foundation. Usually, it could be very humorous in a sly way of making suggestions that would send us into howls, but it always had a lot of truth and energy behind it because he was smart.”
Current FBS coaches on the ballot include:
- Larry Blakeney; Troy.
- Jim Carlen; West Virginia.
- Pete Cawthon Sr.; Austin College (Texas).
- Larry Coker; Miami (Fla.), UTSA.
- Ralph Friedgen; Maryland.
- Mark Dantonio; Cincinnati, Michigan State.
- Darryl Rogers; Cal State East Bay, Fresno State, San Jose State, Michigan State, Arizona State.
- Frank Solich; Nebraska, Ohio.
- Tommy Tuberville; Mississippi, Auburn, Texas Tech, Cincinnati.