Nick Saban, Michael Strahan, Michael Vick Among Those Named to College Football Hall of Fame

Michael Strahan in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sept. 26, 2024. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan. 20 will likely have a huge influence on any players and coaches possibly being immortalized in the sport’s Hall of Fame. But on the eve of that game, several former players and coaches received their flowers, and their nods, to the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Seven-time national championship-winning head coach, Nick Saban, had previously been announced as one of this year’s inductees, and he was joined by 21 others on Jan. 15.

The class features 18 players and four coaches, with many in the former group not only starring as amateurs but then going on to successful, and even Pro Football, Hall of Fame-honored NFL careers.

Among those players who got the call to the hall are Michael Strahan, Michael Vick, Steve Slaton, Montee Ball, and Haloti Ngata. The most notable coach to join Saban is one of his longtime adversaries in Urban Meyer.

Strahan is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, thanks to his record-breaking career with the New York Giants. But before that, he was a standout at Texas Southern University, a historically black university in Houston. Strahan set both the single-season mark (19) and the school’s career record (41.5) for sacks, en route to being named the Division I-AA Defensive Player of the Year in 1992.

Vick starred at Virginia Tech, where he showcased dual-threat abilities that had never been seen before to that extent at the college level. He led the Hokies to the BCS National Title Game as a redshirt freshman in 1999, also leading the NCAA in passing efficiency that season.

His two-year college career produced 20 passing touchdowns, 16 rushing touchdowns and a 22-2 record for the Hokies. After an NFL career that included four Pro Bowls, Vick’s football journey then came full circle as he was recently hired as head coach at Norfolk State University, also located in Virginia.

Slaton elevated from being a fourth-string running back at West Virginia University (WVU) as a freshman to finishing fourth in Heisman voting as a sophomore. He and quarterback Pat White helped produce the most successful era in Mountaineers football history as WVU won 11 games in each of Slaton’s three seasons at the school. He set program records for rushing yards and touchdowns, and Slaton set a Sugar Bowl record in 2006 by rushing for 204 yards in a win over Georgia.

Ball was a two-time All-American for the Wisconsin Badgers, with the first of those honors coming in a legendary 2011 season. He led the nation in rushing yards (1,923), rushing touchdowns (33), and total touchdowns (39), with the last of those tying Barry Sanders in 1988 for the most in a single-season in NCAA history. The following year, he rushed for over 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns, leading the Big Ten in both.

Ngata overcame tearing his ACL in the first quarter of his first game in 2003 to become one of the most dominant defensive linemen in Oregon Ducks history. He produced over 100 tackles and 6.5 sacks over his last two years of college football, culminating in him being both a consensus All-American and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2005.

Meyer won three national championships during his coaching career, which included stops at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State. Two of those titles came with the Gators, with the other being in Columbus, Ohio.

Meyer also had two undefeated seasons during his 17-year career as a head coach. He had 12 double-digit win seasons during that span and posted a sterling 12-3 record in bowl games, including 4-0 in BCS/CFP games.

Other notables in this year’s class include Graham Harrell, who broke the all-time NCAA record of 134 career passing touchdowns while at Texas Tech, and John Henderson, who was a two-time All-American defensive lineman at Tennessee. Also, Texas safety Michael Huff gets the nod after being the Jim Thorpe Award winner in 2005 for being the nation’s best defensive back.

To qualify for the College Football Hall of Fame, a player must have been named to at least one All-American first-team during his career. He also has to be at least 10 years removed from his final college game, and he has to be retired from his professional career as well.

For coaches, they must have had at least 10 years of head coaching experience and have coached at least 100 games. Additionally, they must have an overall winning percentage of at least .600. While coaches like Meyer normally have to wait three full seasons after retirement to be inducted, if they are at least 70 years old, in the case of Saban, then they can be enshrined immediately after retiring.

The College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be inducted on Dec. 9 during an awards dinner in Las Vegas, with the brick-and-mortar hall being in Atlanta, the site of the Jan. 20 CFP Title Game.