Former national championship coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer were selected to the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class in their first years on the ballot, the organization announced Wednesday.
Former Virginia Tech and NFL star Michael Vick and broadcaster Michael Strahan, who played defensive end at Texas Southern before a long NFL career, are also among the class of 18 players and four coaches who will be inducted on Dec. 9 at an event in Las Vegas.
Other selections include former West Virginia All-America running back Steve Slaton, Heisman finalist Montee Ball of Wisconsin and Oregon defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
Saban, who retired from college coaching a year ago, won an FBS-record seven national championships — six at Alabama and one at LSU — during his 28 seasons as a college head coach. Meyer, who last coached in college in 2018 at Ohio State, won a pair of national titles at Florida and another with the Buckeyes while amassing a 187-32 (.853) career record.
Coaches become eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame three seasons after retirement or immediately upon retirement if they are 70 or older. This was the first year of eligibility for both Saban, who retired at 72, and Meyer, 60, who last coached three years ago with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For a player to be eligible, he must have received All-America honors from an NCAA-recognized selector and be at least 10 seasons past his college career.
Vick led the Hokies to their only national championship game as a redshirt freshman in 1999. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting that season and later became a No. 1 pick of the Atlanta Falcons. He later served 21 months in prison for his involvement in a dog fighting ring.
Vick, 44, a native of Newport News, Va., was recently hired as the head coach at Norfolk State.
Strahan, 53, a host on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” was in his first year on the Hall of Fame’s divisional ballot for NCAA lower-division players. He was the 1992 Division I-AA (now FCS) Defensive Player of the Year at Texas Southern.
Ball, who played at Wisconsin from 2009-12, was the most recent player selected. Others include Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell (2005-08), Texas safety Michael Huff (2002-05) and Tennessee defensive tackle John Henderson (1999-2001).
(Photo of Nick Saban: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
