2014 College Football Hall of Fame Votes

Pick Six Previews' Official Ballot

BRETT CIANCIA and MIKE NOWOSWIAT
May 19th, 2014
This time last year, we predicted 7 of the 14 Hall of Fame inductees from an extensive ballot of over 80 former players and coaches.  This March, we received our first ever official College Football Hall of Fame ballots including votes for 11 FBS players and 4 coaches.  The College Football Hall of Fame has always been located in South Bend but will move south to Atlanta this fall.  It is an honor to have a vote for this prestigious organization, and special timing to vote on the first draft class to be inducted into the new facility.  Once again, over 80 legendary players and coaches made the ballot, and we were given the challenging task of selecting just 11 players.  With the Hall of Fame announcement coming later this week, here is how we voted in our first official HOF vote, followed by the ballot of 81 individuals to see who you would have voted for:     COMMENT/TWEET your picks below

CIANCIA's BALLOT:

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Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, Notre Dame
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Eric Crouch, Nebraska
    It was tough to select just 11 players from the list of 80+ legends, and as you can see Mike and I have quite different ballots.  Right away two Heisman winners stood out, Eric Crouch and Ricky Williams.  Crouch holds the record for rushing touchdowns by a QB, had several all-time great runs, and even a historic catch on a trick play to beat #1 Oklahoma in 2001.  Williams broke Tony Dorsett's career rushing record and despite Ron Dayne breaking it a year later, Ricky is surely Hall of Fame quality.  Despite the sanctions and recruiting violations surrounding SMU, Eric Dickerson was a special player and we both agree that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.  Our last consensus selection was big Warren Sapp, who was a force on Miami's defense in the '90s and even received rare Heisman attention as a defender.
    The ballot was loaded with deserving linebackers, led by Brian Bosworth, Bob Crable, and Jackie Walker.  "The Boz," who had a knack for jumping the snap count and blowing up the backfield, was the key leader of the '86 Sooner defense that is considered one of the greatest ever.  How can you not include Notre Dame's Bob Crable, especially with his famous blocked field goal against Michigan where he jumped onto a teammate's back?  Tennessee's Jackie Walker holds the NCAA record for career Pick Sixes so naturally he had to be included on my ballot.
    I was shocked to see Raghib "Rocket" Ismail not already inducted in the Hall of Fame. Rocket is one of the most explosive returners the game has seen: he returned two in the same game vs. rival Michigan, and took a punt 80+ yards for what would have been the game-winning score in the National Championship - if not for an all-time controversial "block in the back" penalty. 
    A candidate that caught my eye was Princeton kicker Charlie Gogolak who was the first "soccer style" kicker ever.  He helped popularize this technique of kicking that all kickers use today.  In his last year on the ballot I felt he deserves recognition for his sport-wide contribution.
    Boston College's Mike Ruth and TCU's Ladainian Tomlinson round out my player ballot.  For the coach section I selected Mike Bellotti (the father of modern-day Oregon Football), Danny Ford (National Champion at Clemson), Jim Tressel (Champion at both levels), and Glenn Killinger (176-72 football record plus winning records coaching basketball and baseball at West Chester PA).

NOWOSWIAT's BALLOT:

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Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech
    It certainly was difficult to narrow down this list, Brett.  Normally, on a year-to-year basis, we are left choosing between two, maybe three, candidates for the Heisman Trophy.  The candidates this year are all legitimate candidates.
    Some of the toughest choices were made under center.  Of course, Eric Crouch, the Heisman winner, was an easy choice.  Both UCLA quarterbacks were considered, but I ultimately narrowed it down to Joe Hamilton and Tim Couch.  Couch may be the more notable name these days because of his high-profile name as an NFL player, albeit his career was a disappointment.  However, Hamilton got my nod because he had the better college career as a whole.  He played one more year than Couch and forced defenses respect his threat to run.  His short stature hurt his NFL chances, but he will forever live on as a college football legend.
    Shane Conlan was one of the best linebackers of all time in both college football and pro football, not that the latter was considered.  However, he is one of the first faces that comes to mind when thinking about a Blue Blood program like Penn State.  He helped Penn State win two National Titles in 1982 and 1986 and was a two-time All-American.
    The late Derrick Thomas and the late Jerome Brown deserved to be recognized.  I did not factor either player's passing in my judgement, but can't help but remember there impact on the game.  Both players had insane athleticism and would be successful in any system.
    All players are deserving, but I feel like my list is complete.  Without any bias, I like my team.

2014 CANDIDATES

Trev Alberts, LB, Nebraska
Eric Bieniemy, RB, Colorado
Dre Bly, DB, North Carolina
Tony Boselli, Tackle, USC
Brian Bosworth, LB, Oklahoma
Bob Breunig, LB, Arizona State
Jerome Brown, DT, Miami
Ruben Brown, OT, Pitt
Larry Burton, WR, Purdue
Dave Butz, DT, Purdue
Freddie Carr, LB, UTEP
Mark Carrier, Safety, USC
Wes Chandler, WR, Florida
Shane Conlan, LB, Penn State
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, Punter, UNLV
Troy Davis, RB Iowa State
Eric Dickerson, RB, SMU
Mike Dirks, DT, Wyoming
DJ Dozier, RB, Penn State
Tim Dwight, KR/WR, Iowa
Jumbo Elliot, Tackle, Michigan State
William Fuller, DT, UNC
Thom Gatewood, WR, Notre Dame
Willie Gault, WR, Tennessee
Kirk Gibson, WR, Michigan State
Charlie Gogolak, Kicker, Princeton
Joe Hamilton, QB, Georgia Tech
Al Harris, DE, Arizona State
Dana Howard, LB, Illinois
Randy Hughes, DB, Oklahoma
Bobby Humphrey, RB, Alabama
Raghib Ismail, WR, Notre Dame
Roy Jefferson, WR, Utah
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
Jess Lewis, DT, Oregon State
Ray Lewis, LB, Miami
Robert Lytie, RB, Michigan
Bob McKay, OT, Texas
Cade McNown, QB, UCLA
Mark Messner, DT, Michigan
Darrin Nelson, RB/WR, Stanford
Ken Norton Jr., LB, UCLA
Tom Nowatzke, FB, Indiana
Jim Otis, FB, Ohio State
Paul Palmer, RB, Temple
Antwaan Randle El, QB, Indiana
Simeon Rice, LB, Illinois
Ron Rivera, LB, California
Willie Roaf, Tackle, Louisiana Tech
Mike Ruth, Nose Guard, Boston College
Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado
Warren Sapp, DT, Miami
John Sciarra, QB, UCLA
Larry Seivers, WR, Tennessee
Sterling Sharpe, WR, South Carolina
Art Still, DE, Kentucky
Derrick Thomas, LB, Alabama
Zach Thomas, LB, Texas Tech
Ladanian Tomlinson, RB, TCU
Jackie Walker, LB, Tennessee
Wesley Walls, TE, Ole Miss
Lorenzo White, RB, Michigan State
Clarence Williams, RB, Washington State
Ricky Williams, RB, Texas
Steve Wisniewski, Guard, Penn State


                             COACHES
Mike Bellotti, Oregon, Chico State
Jim Carlen, WVU, Texas Tech, South Carolina
Pete Cawthon, Texas Tech
Danny Ford, Clemson, Arkansas

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