Inductees Selection Process

For more information on nominating for the College Football Hall of Fame, please contact Hillary Jeffries at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.
 

College Football Hall of Fame Criteria:

• FIRST AND FOREMOST, A PLAYER MUST HAVE RECEIVED FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION BY A SELECTOR RECOGNIZED BY THE NCAA AND UTILIZED TO COMPRISE THEIR CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA TEAMS.

 

• A player becomes eligible for consideration by the NFF's Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his last year of intercollegiate football played.

 

• 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.

 

• Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2024 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1974 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.

 

• A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.

* Players who do not comply with the 50-year rule may still be eligible for consideration by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Divisional Veterans Committees. Veterans Committee candidates must still meet First Team All-America requirement.
 

Voting Procedure:

• NOMINATIONS MAY ONLY BE SUBMITTED BY THE CURRENT ATHLETICS DIRECTOR, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH OR SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR (SID) OF A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE’S COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION. NOMINATIONS MAY ALSO BE SUBMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF A DUES-PAYING CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION.

 

• Statistics, newspaper/magazine clippings, records and personal recommendations by coaches, fellow players and opponents are all considered.

 

• The National Football Foundation staff will screen each candidate. After ascertaining that the nomination satisfies all requirements, FBS nominees are submitted to the District Screening Committee (DSC) nearest to the institution where the nominee played. New nominees as well as individuals who appeared on the previous year's ballot will be included in this process each year.

 

• Only the top vote-getters (approx. 60 players) from the DSC are forwarded to the National Football Foundation staff for inclusion on the ballot. The ballot also carries names of candidates held over from the previous year. These carryover names are referred to as "automatic holdovers" and are decided upon by the Honors Court. Please note: even though your player is nominated, his name WILL NOT appear on the national ballot if he does not first pass through the DSC.

 

• The national ballot of players and coaches is emailed to all dues-paying NFF chapter members, NFF academic members and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) members for a vote. The results are compiled and provided to the Honors Court, which determines the final class members, to be used as a reference.

 

• Any candidate not selected to the current year's Hall of Fame class will automatically go through the voting procedures again the following year. Candidates do not need to be re-nominated, but additions/updates to a candidate’s file are always welcome.