Herman, Heath on 2023 ballot for induction into Hall of Fame

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the names on the 2023 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on Monday, including 80 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 96 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks. The list includes former Virginia standouts Heath Miller and Herman Moore.

The announcement of the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2023, with specific details to be announced in the future.

Miller, from Richlands, Va., played tight end at Virginia from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he was named a unanimous first team All-American and winner of the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end. He was named a third team All-American in 2003 and a freshman All-American in 2002. A three-time All-ACC performer, Miller set the UVA tight end records for career receptions (144), yards (1,703) and TDs (20). He declared for the 2005 NFL Draft and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round. He went on to play for Pittsburgh for 11 seasons before retiring in 2015.

Moore was a wide receiver at Virginia from 1988 to 1990. During three seasons he caught 114 passes for 2,504 yards and 27 touchdowns. He holds the NCAA record for highest average gain per reception (22.0) with a minimum of 105 catches. In 1990, he was a consensus first-team All-American and placed sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. A native of Danville, Va., he played 12 years in the NFL, including his first 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions where he caught 670 passes for 9,174 yards and had 62 touchdown receptions.

The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, 2023, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A 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, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2023 season.

A total of five former Cavalier players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The most recent inductee was All-America safety Anthony Poindexter who was a member of the 2020 class. UVA’s other inductees include (class): Bill Dudley (1956), Tom Scott (1979), Joe Palumbo (1999) and Jim Dombrowski (2008). Former Cavalier head coaches inducted into the Hall include Earle “Greasy” Neale (1967), Frank Murray (1983) and George Welsh (2004).

The hall of fame ballot has been submitted 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 athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.

The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration include:

• First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams.
• A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation’s Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
• While each nominee’s football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.
• Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years. For example, to be eligible for the 2023 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1973 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.

Once nominated for consideration, all FBS player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their school’s geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, approximately 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame but received significant votes in the final selection, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year. Additionally, the Veterans Committee may make recommendations to the Honors Court for exceptions that allow for the induction of players who played more than 50 years ago. The Honors Court annually reviews the Hall of Fame criteria to ensure a fair and streamlined process.

Of the 5.54 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,056 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game during the past 152 years. From the coaching ranks, 226 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.