OU's Calmus, Heupel Named to 2027 College Hall of Fame Ballot

NORMAN — The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame announced the 2027 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on Monday and former University of Oklahoma standouts Rocky Calmus and Josh Heupel earned spots among the 80 players listed from the Football Bowl Subdivision. Calmus and Heupel are repeat honorees.

The ballot was emailed Monday 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 Court, which will deliberate and select the class. The Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, includes an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletics administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.

The announcement of the 2027 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2027. The class will be officially inducted during the 69th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, and members will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2027 season.

Former Sooners linebacker George Cumby (1975-79) will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class in December. Cumby will become OU's 25th former player in the College Hall of Fame and sixth straight defender (defensive tackle/nose guard Dewey Selmon in 2024, defensive backs Roy Williams in 2022 and Rickey Dixon in 2019, and linebackers Brian Bosworth in 2015 and Rod Shoate in 2013).

Rocky Calmus | Linebacker | 1998-2001

One of the nation's top defenders during the Sooners' return to prominence at the beginning of head coach Bob Stoops' tenure, Rocky Calmus defined his position.

The linebacker burst onto the scene in 1999, Stoops' first year, when he registered 114 tackles and 14 tackles for loss as a sophomore to help lead OU to its first bowl game since 1994. In 2000, Calmus registered career highs of 125 tackles and 17 TFLs en route to AP Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-America honors, as the Sooners went 13-0 and captured their seventh national title. He was also dubbed the toughest player in college football by The Sporting News that season.

The Tulsa native won the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker as a senior in 2001 and was a finalist for the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards (given to the nation's best defender) and the Lombardi Award (country's top interior player). A consensus All-American for the second consecutive year, he paced the team in tackles (117) for the third straight season and added 15 more TFLs.

Calmus finished his career ranked fourth in school history with 431 tackles and still holds career program records for tackles for loss (59), sacks by an inside linebacker (14.0), pass breakups by a linebacker (26; next most is 16) and fumble recoveries by a linebacker (seven). He also logged three interceptions (returned two for touchdowns), 29 quarterback hurries, five forced fumbles and three blocked kicks. His 44 career starts were consecutive and rank as the second most by a linebacker in school history.

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) and career passing attempts (1,025; third), and ranks sixth in career touchdown passes (53) 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.

Heupel served as head coach at UCF for three seasons (2018-20) and is entering his seventh season as Tenneesse's head coach. He owns a 73-28 (.723) head coaching record.