Heupel, Three VFLs on 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

CFB HOF / Credit: UT Athletics

Heupel, Three VFLs on 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Posted on June 2, 2021
CFB HOF / Credit: UT Athletics

IRVING, Texas – Former Oklahoma national champion quarterback and current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, as well as three VFL greats appear on the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced on Wednesday.

Defensive back Eric Berry and wide receivers Willie Gault and Larry Seivers represent the Volunteers on the ballot that includes 99 players.

Heupel, who is in his first season as UT head coach, is on the ballot for a second straight year. A 2000 consensus first-team All-American, he guided 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 fourth season as a head coach. Dating back to 2018, he is one of FBS’ top 10 winningest head coaches with a 28-8 overall record.

Berry makes his ballot debut in 2022. 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.

The announcement of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2022 with specific details to be announced in the future. The class will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, 2022, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

-UT Athletics

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