National Football Foundation Releases 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

The 2015 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame—the first class that will be inducted since the launch of the new Atlanta, Georgia location—was released Wednesday afternoon by the National Football Foundation.

The ballot includes 75 players and six coaches from the Football Subdivision ranks, which is standard protocol, but the names were released earlier than usual because the 2015 class will be announced for the first time on Jan. 9 in Arlington, Texas, three days before the national championship takes place in AT&T Stadium.

"We would like to thank [College Football Playoff] 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 in the official press release. "We believe the presence of the national media at the title game will significantly raise the profile of the announcement…"

Featured on the ballot are three former Heisman Trophy winners—Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam, Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch and Texas running back Ricky Williams—along with several other high-achieving players and even one active head coach.

Here is a full look at the FBS Ballot:

Player	Position	School
Trev Alberts	LB	Nebraska
Eric Bieniemy	RB	Colorado
Brian Bosworth	LB	Oklahoma
Bob Breunig	LB	Arizona State
Jerome Brown	DT	Miami
Ruben Brown	OT	Pitt
Steve Brown	LB	Oregon State
Brandon Burlsworth	OG	Arkansas
Larry Burton	WR	Purdue
Keith Byars	RB	Ohio State
Freddie Carr	LB	UTEP
Mark Carrier	S	USC
Wes Chandler	WR	Florida
Tim Couch	QB	Kentucky
Tom Cousineau	LB	Ohio State
Bob Crable	LB	Notre Dame
Paul Crane	C/LB	Alabama
Eric Crouch	QB	Nebraska
Randall Cunningham	QB/P	UNLV
Troy Davis	RB	Iowa State
Eric Dickerson	RB	SMU
John Didion	C	Oregon State
Mike Dirks	DT	Wyoming
D.J. Dozier	RB	Penn State
Tim Dwight	WR/KR	Iowa
Jumbo Elliott	OT	Michigan
Tony Franklin	K	Texas A&M
William Fuller	DT	North Carolina
Moe Gardner	DT	Illinois
Thom Gatewood	WR	Notre Dame
Willie Gault	WR	Tennessee
Kirk Gibson	WR	Michigan State
Charlie Gogolak	K	Princeton
Jacob Green	DL	Texas A&M
Byron Hanspard	RB	Texas Tech
Al Harris	DE	Arizona State
Dana Howard	LB	Illinois
Randy Hughes	DB	Oklahoma
Bobby Humphrey	RB	Alabama
Raghib Ismail	WR	Notre Dame
Dick Jauron	RB	Yale
Ernie Jennings	WR	Air Force
Keyshawn Johnson	WR	USC
Clinton Jones	RB	Michigan State
Lincoln Kennedy	OT	Washington
Tim Krumrie	DT	Wisconsin
Greg Lewis	RB	Washington
Jesse Lewis	DT	Oregon State
Ray Lewis	LB	Miami
Robert Lytle	RB	Michigan
Buddy McClinton	DB	Auburn
Duncan McColl	DE	Stanford
Bob McKay	OT	Texas
Cade McNown	QB	UCLA
Mark Messner	DL	Michigan
Ken Norton Jr	LB	UCLA
Herb Orvis	DE	Colorado
Jim Otis	FB	Ohio State
Paul Palmer	RB	Temple
Antwaan Randle El	QB	Indiana
Simeon Rice	LB	Illinois
Ron Rivera	LB	Cal
Mike Ruth	NG	Boston College
Rashaan Salaam	RB	Colorado
Warren Sapp	DT	Miami
Larry Seivers	WR	Tennessee
Art Still	DE	Kentucky
Zach Thomas	LB	Texas Tech
Dennis Thurman	DB	USC
Andre Tippett	DE	Iowa
Jackie Walker	LB	Tennessee
Lorenzo White	RB	Michigan State
Ricky Williams	RB	Texas
Steve Wisniewski	OG	Penn State
Scott Woerner	DB	Georgia

Coach	Teams
Jim Carlen	West Virginia, Texas Tech, South Carolina
Pete Cawthon	Texas Tech
Danny Ford	Clemson, Arkansas
Billy Jack Murphy	Memphis
Darryl Rogers	Fresno State, San Jose State, Michigan State, Arizona State
Bill Snyder	Kansas State

*Note: highlighted names did not appear on the 2014 ballot.

RB Ricky Williams, Texas

LINDA KAYE/Associated Press

Williams won the Heisman Trophy in 1998 after leading the country in rushing for the second consecutive season. He also broke the record for most career rushing yards by an FBS player (previously held by Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh), an achievement that was remarkable despite being broken by Ron Dayne of Wisconsin just one year later.

But Williams did not make the CFB Hall of Fame on his first attempt last season, thanks in large part to the NFF's unwritten rule about electing players from the same school in consecutive seasons—a rule alluded to by Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com in 2012.

Former Longhorn Jerry Gray was inducted in the 2013 class, so Williams never stood a real chance of getting in despite appearing on the ballot. This time, though, he should be fair game.

The Big Miami Three

LYNNE SLADKY/Associated Press

Like Williams, a trio of former Miami Hurricanes knew not to get their hopes in 2014 after Vinny Testaverde was inducted in 2013.

But this time, their hopes are as high as they should be.

The trio in question consists of defensive tackle Jerome Brown, a unanimous first-team All-American in 1986; defensive tackle Warren Sapp, recipient of the 1994 Lombardi and Nagurski Awards; and linebacker Ray Lewis, a first-team All-American in 1995.

Sapp and Lewis are modern icons for having played more recently than Brown, but all three players have strong cases for eventual inclusion. No more than one of them will get in this season (unless the voting process changes), but they shouldn't all be left out again.

Bill Snyder, Kansas State

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Snyder is eligible to make the Hall of Fame thanks to a new rule allowing active coaches who are 75 or older to appear on the ballot, per Ralph Russo of The Associated Press.

His 75th birthday was less than three weeks ago (Oct. 7).

Alas, even though Snyder is the most recently eligible of the 81 FBS names on the ballot, he is one of the surest bets for induction. He turned a stillborn Kansas State program into a Big 12 contender during the 1990s and early 2000s before retiring, watching his former program regress for three seasons under Ron Prince, returning and getting it back to its current state (No. 11 in the current AP poll).

Former Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer once said of Snyder: "He's not the coach of the year, he's not the coach of the decade, he's the coach of the century!", per Mark Janssen (via ESPN.com).

And at 75, he's still going stronger than ever.