Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, left, and Alabama coach Nick Saban laugh during a news conference at the Marriott downtown convention center in New Orleans, Dec. 31, 2014. Saban and Meyer are up for election to the College Football Hall of Fame for the first time. (AP Photo | Brynn Anderson, file)
Former Bowling Green State University All-American defensive lineman Andre Young appears on the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced on Monday. He is one of 101 players from the divisional ranks on the ballot.
Former BGSU head coach Urban Meyer was also named to the ballot and is one of nine former FBS coaches up for induction. It is the second year for Young on the ballot and first for Meyer.
NFF membership voting runs through June 30 and results will be submitted to the NFF’s Honors Court, which will deliberate and select the 2025 Class.
Young was a four-year letterwinner (1979-82) for the Falcons, earning Kodak Division I-AA All-America honors in 1982 after notching 78 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.
His first-team All-MAC season led BGSU to a 1982 MAC Championship and an appearance in the 1982 California Bowl. Young was inducted into the BGSU Hall of Fame in 2004.
After leaving BGSU, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1983 NFL Draft. He also played with the Green Bay Packers, in the CFL (Calgary) and in the USFL (Denver). Young currently lives in Lawrenceville, Ga., and is the owner of a home improvement company.
“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.7 million people have played college football and only 1,093 players have been inducted,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell.
“The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.”
Due to an obscure rule in 1982, multiple schools in the MAC, including Bowling Green, were classified as I-AA programs (a precursor to FCS) for one year due to stadium size and home attendance, and thus Young was deemed an I-AA All-American.
This is why Young finds himself on the divisional ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. The MAC considered itself an I-A (a precursor to FBS) league and did not send anyone to the I-AA playoffs. BGSU represented the league in the California Bowl as the MAC champion. By 1983, all MAC schools were reclassified back to I-A.
Meyer, who started his head coaching career at BGSU, finished his career with the third-highest winning percentage in FBS history (85.4 percent), winning two BCS national championships with Florida and the inaugural CFP title with Ohio State.
Meyer turned around a program at Bowling Green quickly and by year No. 2 at BGSU the Falcons were ranked in Associated Press poll for the first time in 30 years.
He led Utah to a perfect 12-0 season and a win at the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, the first-ever BCS game to feature a non-automatic qualifier.
Meyer won seven conference titles overall and led Ohio State to an NCAA record 30-consecutive conference victories. Many members of Meyer’s coaching tree went on to be head coaches, including two at Bowling Green (Gregg Brandon and Scot Loeffler).
Former BGSU head coaches Doyt Perry and Don Nehlen are the only Falcons in the College Football Hall of Fame. The announcement of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2025, with specific details to be announced in the future.
Among the players appearing on the ballot for the Atlanta-based hall for the first time is former Pitt defensive lineman Aaron Donald, who retired earlier this year after 10 NFL seasons with the Rams.
Other first-timers on the ballot include 2012 Heisman Trophy runner-up Manti Te’o from Notre Dame; 2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram from Alabama and former California wide receiver DeSean Jackson.
Saban retired earlier this year after 17 seasons as Alabama coach. He won six national championships with the Crimson Tide and one with LSU in 2003 for a record seven career titles. In 28 years as a college head coach with Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama, Saban was 297-71-1.
Among the players who are holdovers on this year’s ballot are former Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick, former Syracuse receiver Marvin Harrison and the late Sean Taylor, who played defensive back for Miami.
The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025, 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 2025 season.
