2021 College Football Hall of Fame ballot to be released June 9
The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame will announce the names on the 2021 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on June 9 at 11 a.m.
The 2021 ballot will include 78 players and seven coaches from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks via a national press release and on social media.
To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named a First Team All-American by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 full seasons prior; played within the last 50 years; and cannot be currently playing professional football. Coaches must have coached a minimum of 10 years and 100 games as a head football coach; won at least 60% of their games; and be retired from coaching for at least three full seasons. If a coach is retired and over the age of 70, there is no waiting period. If he is over the age of 75, he is eligible as an active coach. In all cases, the candidate’s post-football record as a citizen may also be weighed.
The ballot will be emailed to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Courts, which deliberate and select the class. The FBS Honors Court, chaired by NFF board member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, and the Divisional Honors Court, chaired by former Marshall head coach, longtime athletics director and NFF board member Jack Lengyel, include an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.
The announcement of the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class presented by ETT will be made in early 2021, with specific details to be announced in the future. The class will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner presented by ETT on Dec. 7, 2021, at the New York Hilton Midtown. The inductees will be permanently enshrined at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Of the 5.4 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,027 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%)of those who have played the game during the past 150 years. From the coaching ranks, 221 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.
