NEWS RELEASE NFF Media Contacts Phil Marwill | 917-579-4256 [email protected] Alan Cox | 972-556-1000 [email protected] “America’s Game: A Game for Every Generation.” Twitter: @NFFNetwork NFF Proudly Announces Star-Studded 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class 15 All-America players and two legendary coaches from all levels of college football will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 in NYC. IRVING, Texas (Jan. 9, 2015) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today the 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which includes the names of 15 First Team All-America players and two legendary coaches. The inductees were selected from the national ballot of 75 All-America players and six elite coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and the 87 players and 25 coaches from the divisional ranks. 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS Players: TREV ALBERTS – LB, Nebraska (1990-93) BRIAN BOSWORTH – LB, Oklahoma (1984-86) BOB BREUNIG – LB, Arizona State (1972-74) SEAN BREWER – DL, Millsaps (Miss.) (1989-92) RUBEN BROWN – OT, Pittsburgh (1991-94) WES CHANDLER – SE, Florida (1974-77) THOM GATEWOOD – SE, Notre Dame (1969-71) DICK JAURON – RB, Yale (1970-72) CLINTON JONES – HB, Michigan State (1964-66) LINCOLN KENNEDY – OT, Washington (1989-92) ROB LYTLE (deceased) – RB, Michigan (1974-76) MICHAEL PAYTON – QB, Marshall (1989-92) ART STILL – DE, Kentucky (1974-77) ZACH THOMAS – LB, Texas Tech (1992-95) RICKY WILLIAMS – RB, Texas (1995-98) Coaches: BILL SNYDER – 187-94-1 (66.5%); Kansas State (1989-2005, 2009- Present) JIM TRESSEL – 229-79-2 (74.2%); Youngstown State (1986-2000) and Ohio State (2001-10) NFF Release Page 1 of 15 “We are extremely proud to announce the 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” said Archie Manning, NFF Chairman and a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. “Each of these men has established himself among the absolute best to have ever played the game, and we look forward to immortalizing their incredible accomplishments.” The announcement of the 2015 class was made today at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel, the media hotel for the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, which will be played on Monday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas between No. 2 Oregon (13-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (13-1). Several of the inductees, including Brian Bosworth (Oklahoma), Bob Breunig (Arizona State), Lincoln Kennedy (Washington) and Coach Bill Snyder attended, representing the class and sharing their thoughts on induction. Members of the class will also participate in pregame festivities and the coin toss on the field during the championship game. Bosworth, Breunig, Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame) and coaches Snyder and Jim Tressel are currently slated to represent the class during those events. The new tradition of announcing the College Football Hall of Fame inductees before the national title game will have no impact on the induction ceremonies, which will continue to take place during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. This new tradition sets the calendar for several years. The national championship will be played in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11, 2016 and Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 9, 2017, and the Hall of Fame announcement will take place at the media hotel in the respective cities. “The College Football Playoff National Championship weekend provides a new opportunity to shine a spotlight on the student-athletes and coaches who are being chosen for this great honor by the National Football Foundation,” said College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock. “We are pleased that the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame are showcasing some of the game’s outstanding individuals as part of the national championship festivities. We believe fans will be excited to share in the history of the game.” “We would like to thank CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock and his staff for the opportunity to announce our Hall of Fame Class in conjunction with the championship game,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “The presence of the national media at the title game significantly raises the profile of the announcement and allows us to shine a much brighter light on the accomplishments of our game’s greatest legends. We are grateful for the guidance, knowledge and vision of honors court chairmen Gene Corrigan (FBS) and Jack Lengyel (divisional) for the essential role that they each play in guiding the committees in the selection of the inductees.” The 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8, 2015 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2016, and they will be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with on-campus salutes during the fall. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized in the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. NFF Release Page 2 of 15 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS NOTES PLAYERS: THREE NFF National Scholar-Athletes (Alberts, Gatewood, Jauron) FIVE unanimous First Team All-Americans (Alberts, Kennedy, Still, Thomas, Williams – 2) FIVE consensus First Team All-Americans (Bosworth – 2, Gatewood, Jones, Lytle, Payton) FIVE multi-year First Team All-Americans (Bosworth – 2, Brewer – 3, Jones – 2, Thomas – 2, Williams – 2) FOUR winners of college football major awards (Alberts – Butkus; Bosworth – Butkus [2]; Payton – Walter Payton Award; Williams – Heisman, Maxwell, Walter Camp, Doak Walker [2]) NINE conference players of the year (Alberts, Breunig – 2, Brewer – 2, Jauron, Lytle, Payton – 2, Still, Thomas – 2, Williams – 2) FOUR members of a national championship team (Bosworth, Jones – 2, Kennedy, Payton ) 10 members of conference championship teams (Alberts, Bosworth, Breunig, Jones, Kennedy, Lytle, Payton, Still, Thomas, Williams) 10 played for College Football Hall of Fame coaches (Alberts, Bosworth, Breunig, Chandler, Gatewood, Jauron, Jones, Kennedy, Lytle, Payton) SIX first-round NFL draft picks (Brown, Chandler, Jones, Kennedy, Still, Williams) NINE offensive players (Brown, Chandler, Gatewood, Jauron, Jones, Kennedy, Lytle, Payton, Williams) SIX defensive players (Alberts, Bosworth, Breunig, Brewer, Still, Thomas) FOUR decades represented: 1960s (1) – Jones; 1970s (6) – Breunig, Chandler, Gatewood, Jauron, Lytle, Still; 1980s (1) – Bosworth; 1990s (7) – Alberts, Brewer, Brown, Kennedy, Payton, Thomas, Williams ONE school with its first-ever College Football Hall of Fame inductee (Millsaps [Miss.] – Brewer) COACHES: FIVE national championships (Tressel) NINE conference championships (Snyder – 2, Tressel – 7) 26 bowl berths (Snyder – 16, Tressel – 10) 10 playoff appearances (Tressel) NFF Release Page 3 of 15 Winningest football coach in school history (Snyder) Most wins of any FCS coach in the 1990s (Tressel) One of only four coaches in history to be inducted as an active coach (Snyder – following Bobby Bowden, John Gagliardi and Joe Paterno) EIGHT NFF National Scholar-Athletes coached (Snyder (5) – Russ Campbell, Brooks Barta, Jason Johnson, Tysyn Hartman and Tyler Lockett; Tressel (3) – Anthony Pannunzio [Youngstown State], Campbell Trophy winner Craig Krenzel and Brian Robiskie [Ohio State]) SELECTION CRITERIA 1. First and foremost, a player must have received First Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams. 2. A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's honors courts ten years after his final year of intercollegiate football played. 3. While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether or not the candidate earned a college degree. 4. Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years*. For example, to be eligible for the 2015 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1965 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire. 5. A coach becomes eligible three years after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage*. * Players that do not comply with the 50-year rule may still be eligible for consideration by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Divisional Honors Review Committees, which examine unique cases. COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME QUICK FACTS Including the 2015 Hall of Fame class, only 963 players and 209 coaches, have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.06 million who have played or coached the game during the past 146 years. In other words, less than two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002) of the individuals who have played the game have been deemed worthy of this distinction. Founded in 1947, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame inducted its first class of inductees in 1951. The first class included 32 players and 19 coaches, including Illinois' Red Grange, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Carlisle's Jim Thorpe. 302 schools are represented with at least one College Football Hall of Famer. Induction for this class of Hall of Famers will take place Dec. 8, 2015 at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City’s historic Waldorf Astoria. NFF Release Page 4 of 15 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee Bios TREV ALBERTS University of Nebraska Linebacker, 1990-93 One of the most decorated defensive players in Nebraska history, Trev Alberts became the Cornhuskers’ first Butkus Award winner in 1993 as the top linebacker in the nation.