Trio of former Sooners on College Football Hall of Fame ballot
Trio of former Sooners on College Football Hall of Fame ballot
A trio of Oklahoma Sooners players are once again on the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame ballot.
After also being included on last year's ballot, quarterback Josh Heupel and linebackers Rocky Calmus and George Cumby are back on the list for induction into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
In all, 79 FBS players and 10 head coaches are on this year's ballot for induction into the Hall, as well as 100 players and 35 coaches from all other divisions. Votes will be tabulated from among the more than 12,000 NFF members and Hall of Famers and submitted to the NFF Honors Court, which will deliberate and select the next class, which will be revealed in January.
Over the years, OU has had 30 players and four coaches inducted into the Hall. The most recent inductee is defensive lineman Dewey Selmon in 2024.
Heupel was the first starting quarterback of the Bob Stoops era in 1999. After playing college football for Weber State in 1996 and 1997 and Snow College (a community college) in 1998, he transferred to Oklahoma for his final two collegiate seasons.
After guiding the Sooners to a 7-5 record in 1999, the Aberdeen, South Dakota native helped lead OU to an undefeated 13-0 record and a consensus national championship in 2000. He was the runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting after an excellent season in Year 2 under Stoops. Heupel helped usher in the Air Raid offense to Oklahoma, a place that had relied heavily on the triple option for its entire history up until 1999. The Sooners have been running some form of the Air Raid or Spread offenses ever since.
Despite going undrafted, Heupel spent time with the NFL's Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers, but never saw the field in the pros from 2001 to 2002. He returned to OU as a grad assistant in 2004 before coaching tight ends at Arizona in 2005 under head coach Mike Stoops.
Heupel returned to Oklahoma to coach quarterbacks from 2006 to 2010, where he mentored Paul Thompson, Heisman-winner Sam Bradford, and Landry Jones. He earned the role of co-offensive coordinator (along with Jay Norvell) once Kevin Wilson left to take the Indiana head coaching job, and called the plays for the Sooners from 2011 to 2014, while also coaching the quarterbacks.
Despite a solid first two seasons with Landry Jones still under center, Heupel's offenses fell off in the last two seasons with the trio of Trevor Knight, Blake Bell and Cody Thomas starting games. Stoops fired Heupel and Norvell after the 2014 season, replacing them with Lincoln Riley.
Heupel spent a season as Utah State's OC and two years as Missouri's OC. He became UCF's head coach in 2018, spending three years there before landing his current gig, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. He's done an excellent job on Rocky Top, leading the Vols out of the wilderness they were in before his arrival.
Calmus was a local product from Jenks, Oklahoma who played for the Sooners from 1998 to 2001. He saw the final season of the John Blake era and the first three seasons under Stoops. He too was a big part of OU's 2000 national title team, and ended his career as a two-time consensus All-American.
Calmus' position coach was none other than Brent Venables, who was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in Norman back in those days. Calmus was a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and won the 2001 Butkus Award that is given annually to the nation's best linebacker.
One of the best defensive players in the modern era of OU Football (1999 to present), Calmus spent three NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans and one with the Indianapolis Colts, after being selected in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft with the 77th overall pick.
Calmus dealt with plenty of injuries during his pro career, but that certainly doesn't diminish what he did at the college level. He was an integral part of those early Stoops-Venables defenses in Norman.
Cumby was a two-time All-American at linebacker for Oklahoma from 1976 to 1979 under head coach Barry Switzer. He was a two time Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year as well.
The Tyler, Texas native finished fifth in school history with 405 tackles, including 160 as a senior in 1979, still fourth in school history. He was a first round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 1980 NFL Draft (26th overall). In his second season in the league, Cumby had three interceptions and was named second-team All-Pro. He played six professional seasons with the Packers, one for the Buffalo Bills and one for the Philadelphia Eagles, ending his NFL career with five interceptions and six recovered fumbles.
Another familiar name on the ballot to Sooner fans is Larry Coker, who coached the Miami Hurricanes to the 2001 national title. He was Oklahoma's offensive coordinator under head coach Gary Gibbs from 1990 to 1992. Coker is Oklahoma through and through. He is a native of Okemah, played football at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and coached at both of the state's other FBS programs, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.
Additionally, former Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2027. The Hall lowered the win percentage eligibility criteria from .600 to .595, meaning Leach can now get in. "The Pirate" passed away in 2022 with a .596 win percentage.
Leach was the first offensive coordinator Stoops hired upon getting the OU job, and he was the pioneer of the Air Raid at Oklahoma. Though he spent just the 1999 season in Norman, his impact is still being felt at Oklahoma to this day, as the Sooners just hired a young Air Raid disciple named Ben Arbuckle to be the new offensive coordinator.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Court upholds nearly $1.4 million arbitration award against Reggie Bush
Nearly 20 years later, the events that clouded Reggie Bush's entry to the NFL still resonate. Via Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, a judge recently upheld an arbitration award requiring Bush to pay Lloyd Lake $1.4 million for defamation. It was Lake's alleged provision of benefits to Bush's family that sparked a controversy that resulted in USC football being sanctioned and in Bush losing his Heisman Trophy. (He has since gotten it back.) The timing of the story's emergence also may have contributed to the Texans' decision to pass on Bush with the first overall pick in the 2006 draft. He was picked by the Saints at No. 2. He also played for the Lions, Dolphins, 49ers, and Bills in an 11-year NFL career. Lake originally sued Bush in 2007. The case was settled in 2010. The second lawsuit flowed from allegations that Bush violated a non-disparagement clause in the settlement agreement. The agreement also contained a clause requiring future disputes to go to arbitration. According to Kartje, Bush appeared on the I Am Athlete podcast in 2022 and accused Lake of blackmail and exaggerated Lake's criminal record, saying it was 'as long as the Cheesecake Factory menu.' Bush, per Kartje, also falsely accused Lake of being a convicted rapist. The arbitrator ruled in Lake's favor, awarding him $500,000, along with $764,640 in attorneys' fees and $116,780 in other costs. Bush has appeal rights. Typically, however, it's very difficult to get a court to throw out the results of a private arbitration agreement. That's mainly because courts love arbitration agreements; they reduce the load of cases that otherwise would have to be resolved by the court system.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Texans QB C.J. Stroud jokingly takes jab at Bears QB Caleb Williams for Week 2 comments
Caleb Williams and C.J. Stroud haven't seen each other since Week 2, when the Houston Texans' second-year quarterback passed on some words of wisdom over to his Chicago Bears' counterpart. People, as per usual, took it out of context and made it a bigger deal because of the age gap. After all, Stroud was only one year into his NFL tenure and yet some assumed he was talking down to the quarterback who beat him out for the Heisman Trophy in 2022. For the first time since Stroud told Williams to "stop taking so many hits," the two met in public during a panel session hosted by the Manning brothers at the Fanatics Fest in New York City on Saturday. When asked if the third-year quarterback had any advice for the Bears' top pick last season, Stroud cracked with a smile at the crowd. 'I don't know if Caleb likes my advice," Stroud joked, to which Williams laughed. Stroud might not have much room to talk after being sacked 52 times, but he still wasn't the league's most hit quarterback. That title belongs to Williams, who was sacked 68 times over 17 games. Although a poor offensive line took much of the blame, the former No. 1 overall often needed to get rid of the ball, which is what Stroud meant after a Week 2 win on Sunday Night Football. At the moment, Williams put it off. He had just thrown two late picks that cemented a 2-0 start for the Texans and cost the Bears a promising start. After eight months and a full offseason running the show for Ben Johnson's revamped offensive system two young franchise quarterbacks can now laugh about the famous intercations. Also, Stroud can say he was right for giving the advice since it led to the firing of a coach and a record-setting number of hits in Bears' history against a quarterback.
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Tennessee football passing yard leaders each season since 2000
2025 will mark the fifth football season for Tennessee under head coach Josh Heupel. He compiled a 37-15 (20-12 SEC) record since 2021 with the Vols. Heupel has also defeated Alabama and Florida two times each. Tennessee's 2025 campaign will kick off Aug. 30 against Syracuse. The season opener is slated for noon EDT (ABC) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Under Heupel, quarterback Hendon Hooker recorded the most passing yards in a season. He totaled 3,135 yards in 2022. Hooker also led the Vols in passing yards (2,945) in 2021. Other quarterbacks to lead Tennessee in passing yards for a season under Heupel were Joe Milton III in 2023 (2,813) and Nico Iamaleava during the 2024 campaign (2,616). Ahead of the 2025 season, Vols Wire looks back at Tennessee's passing yard leaders each season over the last 25 years. PHOTOS: Tennessee starting quarterbacks through the years PHOTOS: Casey Clausen through the years Tennessee football passing yard leaders each season since 2000 Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
