IRVING, Texas – Former Oklahoma national champion quarterback and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel as well as three VFL greats appear on the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced on Monday.
Defensive back Eric Berry and wide receivers Willie Gault and Larry Seivers represent the Volunteers on the ballot that includes 96 players.
Heupel, who guided the Vols to a record-setting offensive season in 2021, is on the ballot for a third straight year. A 2000 consensus first-team All-American, he led the Sooners to the 2000 national championship with a victory in the Orange Bowl. In two seasons, Heupel rewrote the Oklahoma record books and was the 2000 Heisman Trophy runner-up before going onto a successful coaching career.
Today, Heupel is in his fifth season as a head coach. Of the eight first-year Power Five head coaches in 2021, no coach won more regular season games than Heupel as the Vols recorded seven en route to the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
Berry appears on the ballot for the second consecutive year. A two-time unanimous first-team All-American, Berry still holds two Southeastern Conference records – career interception return yards (494) and single-season return yards (265 in 2008). He captured the 2009 Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back and was tabbed the 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Berry was equally impressive in the NFL, garnering five Pro Bowl honors, three first-team All-Pro laurels, and he was selected to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
A 1982 first-team All-American, Gault led Tennessee to three bowl berths and set six conference punt and kickoff return records. He tied the NCAA record for most kickoff return touchdowns in a single season with three in 1980.
Seivers was a two-time consensus first-team All-American in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, he became the first Vol to eclipse 800 receiving yards in a single season. He was also a two-time first-team All-SEC selection.
The announcement of the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2023 with specific details to be announced in the future.
The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, 2023, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2023 season.
-UT Athletics
