Mike Leach, the innovative coach who died in 2022, heads the ballot for the 2027 College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation said Monday.
The foundation said Leach became eligible under adjusted criteria for coaches. He compiled a 158-107 record and a 0.596 winning percentage at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, the NFF said.
The ballot includes 80 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 39 coaches from lower levels, the NFF said. Other FBS coaches on the list include Larry Coker, Dennis Franchione, Ralph Friedgen, Darryl Rogers, Jackie Sherrill and Tommy Tuberville, the foundation said.
The NFF said Heisman Trophy winners Cam Newton of Auburn (2010) and Robert Griffin III of Baylor (2011) are on the ballot. First-time nominees include Tavon Austin of West Virginia, Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin, A.J. Hawk of Ohio State and Barrett Jones of Alabama, the NFF said.
The foundation said players are eligible 10 full seasons after their last college season and must have received first-team All-America honors from a major selector. The NFF said nominees are screened for eligibility, then voted on by members of the NFF and the Football Writers Association of America, with final selections made by the NFF Honors Court. The NFF announced last year that the minimum career winning percentage for coaches would drop from .600 to .595 beginning in 2027, a change the foundation said made Leach eligible.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
