Heupel, Williams on Hall of Fame Ballot

NORMAN — The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame announced the 2022 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday and former University of Oklahoma standouts Josh Heupel and Roy Williams earned spots among the 78 players listed from the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The ballot was emailed Tuesday to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF's Honors Courts, which will deliberate and select the class. The FBS Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, and the Divisional Honors Court, chaired by former Marshall head coach, longtime athletics director and NFF Board Member Jack Lengyel, include an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.

"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.47 million people have played college football and only 1,038 players have been inducted," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "The Hall's requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today's elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year."

The announcement of the class will be made in early 2022, with specific details to be revealed 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 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 during the 2022 season.

Former OU head coach Bob Stoops will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2021 class Dec. 7 during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas. The owner of the most wins in Oklahoma football history and engineer of 10 Big 12 Conference titles and the 2000 national championship, Stoops posted a 190-48 (.798) record at OU and coached the Sooners to a school-record 18 consecutive bowl berths. He guided the OU to the most wins of any Power 5 program between 1999 to 2016.

Josh Heupel | Quarterback | 1999-2000

The runner-up for the 2000 Heisman Trophy, Josh Heupel became Oklahoma's first consensus All-America quarterback and the first Sooners signal-caller to earn All-America honors since Jack Mildren in 1971.

A junior college transfer, Heupel was one of Bob Stoops' first OU recruits and is largely credited with turning an offense that statistically ranked as one of the worst in the nation before his arrival into one of the country's most explosive.

After helping OU to a 7-5 record in his debut year, Heupel led the Sooners to a 13-0 campaign in 2000 (their first 13-win season in history) and a national championship. He was named Associated Press Player of the Year, Walter Camp Player of the Year, The Sporting News Player of the Year, CBS Sports Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year that season.

Heupel, from Aberdeen, S.D., passed for 7,456 yards and 53 touchdowns in his two seasons at OU, and still ranks in the top five in school history in career passing yards (fifth), career completions (654; third), career passing attempts (1,025; third) and career touchdown passes (fifth) despite playing only two seasons. He threw for at least 300 yards in 14 of his 25 career contests, and left OU holding virtually every school and numerous Big 12 passing records.

Roy Williams | Defensive Back | 1998-2001

By the time his career was over, Roy Williams was more feared by offensive opponents and more respected by his defensive peers than any player in the country.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2000, the safety was one of the stars on an OU defense that went 13-0 and held Florida State's offense scoreless in the Orange Bowl (BCS National Championship game) to earn the school's seventh national title. He finished the year with 99 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions, 10 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.

The next year, the Union City, Calif., product was even more productive, winning the Nagurski Award as the nation's top defender and the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back. The unanimous All-American was No. 7 in Heisman Trophy voting, the highest finish of the year by a non-quarterback, and finished with 107 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five interceptions, 22 pass breakups and three fumble recoveries.

Williams bypassed his senior season of eligibility to enter the 2002 NFL Draft and was selected with the eighth pick in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys.

University of Oklahoma Athletics