Congrove Presents His 2026 College Football Hall of Fame Selections

June 18, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

For more than 65 years, the NFF College Football Hall of Fame has stood as the sport's ultimate archive, honoring those whose impact on the game still echoes today," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell.

CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove has been a voting member of The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame for 14 seasons, and has submitted his ballot for the Class of 2026.

5.78 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on November 6, 1869, long ebfore the NCAA even existed. Only 1,111 (.02%) have earned induction into the College Football hall over the past 154 seasons. 237 coaches have achieved that distinction.

The announcement of the 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2026, with specific details to be announced in the future. They will be officially inducted at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on December 8, 2026.

His 2025 picks included Michael Vick and head coach Nick Saban, who were among the inductees.

There are 79 FBS players on this year's ballot to sift through and vote for - all of whom are worthy for consideration.

The nominees include Pitt quarterback Matt Cavanaugh and Maryland tight end Vernon Davis.

Cavanaugh was the MVP of the undefeated Panthers' 27-3 destruction of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in 1976, despite Heisman winner Tony Dorsett rushing for over 200 yards. The following year, without Dorsett, Cavanaugh and Pitt finished 9-2-1 with a 34-3 rout of Clemson in the Gator Bowl. The victory capped a 12-0 season and earned a unanimous No. 1 ranking after the bowls to lay claim to the title of National Champions. He would lead them to another bowl win the following year and be named MVP again.

Davis was the Terps' 2005 Team MVP and helped lead his team to a 41-7 romp over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl at the end of the 2003 season. He was also a 2005 first-team All-American and a finalist for the John Mackey Award for the nation's best tight end.

But neither Cavanaugh or Davis were among Congrove's 12 allowed selections of FBS Players.

Congrove has these 9 FBS player selections repeated from his 2025 ballot -

WR/KR Marvin Harrison of Syracuse
RB Garrison Hearst of Georgia
RB Marshawn Lynch of Cal
WR Herman Moore of Virginia
QB Kellen Moore of Boise State
LB Ken Norton, Jr. of UCLA
QB Antwaan Randle El, Indiana
LB Simeon Rice of Illinois
WR Peter Warrick of Florida State

His attempts to help Tennessee WR and beloved former Chicago Bear Willie Gault (1979-1982) enter the hall came up fruitless, along with his efforts to enshrine Virginia Tech center Jim Pyne (1990-93).

QB Michael of Virginia Tech (1999-2000) was his only player selection that made the final cut in '25.

Congrove's 3 'new' selections for 2026 are kicker Morton Anderson of Michigan State, DE Marco Coleman of Georgia Tech, along with Cal LB Ron Rivera.

Anderson kicked a 63-yard field goal in 1981 that still stands as the Big Ten Conference record. He went on to play 25 NFL seasons was Canton inductee to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Coleman retired from the NFL after the 2005 season and has since returned to Georgia Tech to coach the position he played. He was a first-round pick (12th pick) of the Miami Dolphins in 1992.

Rivera was a 1984 2nd round NFL pick by the Chicago Bears where he played his entire career from 1984-1992. He also began his coaching career with the Bears in 1997 (quality control) and later became the HC of the Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins. H has returned to his alma mater as the GM of the Cal Bears football team.

Last year, Congrove's two votes for FBS head coach went to Nick Saban and Larry Blakeney who were both inducted. so his new votes go to Larry Coker and Chris Petersen.

Coker, of course, guided Miami to the national title in the 2001 season, his first as head coach after serving as the offensive coordinator and QB Coach under Butch Davis. He later was the first head coach of the UTSA Roadrunners. Coker was 60-15 with Miami after winning his first 24 games, and was 35-3 after three seasons. He was 26-32 at UTSA, including 8-4 in the program's second season overall and first in the FBS.

Petersen was the Boise State OC under Dan Hawkins from 2001-2005 and became the HC after Hawkins left for an ill-fated attempt at rebuilding the Colorado Buffaloes. Petersen remained with the Broncos until after the 2013 season when accepted the same position with the Washington Huskies. (2014-2019). Petersen is the head coach who pulled out a bag of trick plays that included the Hook and Ladder, and the Statue of Liberty as Boise State upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2006 season.

His divisional coach selections are multi-year repeat votes for Forrest Perkins of Wisconsin-Whitewater (1956-84) and Lou Wacker of Emory & Henry (1982-2004). He has been trying to get Wacker in the Hall since 2021 and Perkins since 2023.

After St. John's WR Blake Elliot was enshrined this past year, Congrove's FCS selections are repeats for MVSU linebacker Vincent "the Undertaker" Brown, Northwest Missouri State all-purpose player and WR Tony Miles, and Lafayette LB Joe Skladany, along with a first-time pick of Akron LB Steve Cockerham.

Brown has been on his ballot every year since 2021, Miles since 2025, and Skladany since 2018.

Brown started 103 games in just 8 seasons for the New England Patriots from 1988-1995. He led the entire NCAA in tackles in 1986 and 1987 and set an all-divisions record with 570 career tackles.

Miles led the D2 Bearcats to back-to-back national championships in 1998 and 1999 and posted 3,890 receiving yards on 235 catches with 37 TD's.

Skladany never missed a start in four seasons and amassed 532 tackles. His Uncle, who was also named Joe but was nicknamed Muggsy, was inducted in 1975 for his performance as a consensus All-American at end in 1932 and 1933 at Pitt. The younger Joe was the Team captain and two-time Team MVP who led nation's second-ranked defense in 1981.

Cockerham led Akron to the 1976 D2 national championship game, was a two-time All-American, and racked-up a ridiculous 715 tackles in his collegiate carrer.

The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration include:

• First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams.
• A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
• While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.
• Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2024 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1974 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.
• A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.
• Nominations may only be submitted by the current athletics director, head coach or sports information director (SID) of a candidate's collegiate institution. Nominations may also be submitted by the president/executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation.

ABOUT The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
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