Two Ohio State greats are nominees for the College Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2025.
Former Ohio State linebacker and current OSU linebackers coach James Laurinaitis is among the player nominees for the sixth year in a row. Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is among the coaches on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.
Laurinaitis is one of just eight players in Ohio State history to earn first-team All-American honors three times. He was also a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, the 2007 Butkus Award winner and the 2006 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner, recording 375 tackles across his four-year Buckeye career (2005-08).
Meyer had one of the most successful tenures ever for an Ohio State coach. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2014 and won 83 of the 92 games he coached over seven seasons (2012-18), including all seven games he coached against Michigan. Across his 17 total seasons as an FBS head coach at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and OSU, Meyer won 85.4% of the games he coached – the third-highest FBS winning percentage ever – also winning two national championships at Florida.
If Laurinaitis is selected, he would become the 29th former Ohio State player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Chris Ward will become Ohio State’s 28th inductee when he is officially enshrined in the Hall of Fame later this year.
PLAYER | POSITION | YEARS | INDUCTED |
---|---|---|---|
CHIC HARLEY | HB | 1916-17, 19 | 1951 |
WES FESLER | E | 1928-30 | 1954 |
LES HORVATH | QB | 1940-42, 44 | 1969 |
BILL WILLIS | T | 1942-44 | 1971 |
GAYLORD STINCHCOMB | HB | 1917-20 | 1973 |
JIM PARKER | G | 1954-56 | 1974 |
GUST ZARNAS | G | 1935-37 | 1975 |
VIC JANOWICZ | HB | 1949-51 | 1976 |
JIM DANIEL | T | 1939-41 | 1977 |
GOMER JONES | C | 1934-35 | 1978 |
HOPALONG CASSADY | HB | 1952-55 | 1979 |
WARREN AMLING | G/T | 1944-46 | 1984 |
ARCHIE GRIFFIN | RB | 1972-75 | 1986 |
AUREALIUS THOMAS | G | 1955-57 | 1989 |
JIM STILLWAGON | MG | 1968-70 | 1991 |
BOB FERGUSON | FB | 1959-61 | 1996 |
RANDY GRADISHAR | LB | 1971-73 | 1998 |
JOHN HICKS | T | 1970-73 | 2001 |
JACK TATUM | DB | 1968-70 | 2004 |
JIM HOUSTON | E | 1957-58 | 2005 |
REX KERN | QB | 1968-70 | 2007 |
CHRIS SPIELMAN | LB | 1984-87 | 2009 |
EDDIE GEORGE | RB | 1992-95 | 2011 |
ORLANDO PACE | LT | 1994-96 | 2013 |
TOM COUSINEAU | LB | 1975-78 | 2016 |
KEITH BYARS | RB | 1982-85 | 2020 |
MIKE DOSS | S | 1999-02 | 2022 |
CHRIS WARD | OT | 1974-77 | 2024 |
Meyer would become the eighth Ohio State head coach inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach, joining Howard Jones (1910), John Wilce (1913-28), Francis Schmidt (1934-40), Woody Hayes (1951-78), Earle Bruce (1979-87), John Cooper (1988-2000) and Jim Tressel (2001-10).
Voting for the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class is now open to National Football Foundation members and Hall of Fame inductees through July 1. Their votes will be sent to the NFF’s Honors Court, a panel of administrators, Hall of Famers and media members chaired by Ohio State legend Archie Griffin, which will make the final selections for the class. The Class of 2025 will be announced early next year.