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Three former Hurricanes on ballot for College Football Hall
Former Miami Hurricanes greats Ken Dorsey and Bryant McKinnie, plus ex-coach Larry Coker, were among a group of candidates on the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot released Wednesday by the National Football Foundation.
McKinnie is among the 26 players and one coach who were making their first appearance on the ballot, which contained 78 candidates and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The latest FBS coach added to the list was Coker, who led Miami to a 60-15 record, including back-to-back BCS Championship appearances and a national title in 2001.
Dorsey, the winningest quarterback in Miami history with a 38-2 record as a starter, is on the 2022 ballot after not making the final cut for the 2021 group of inductees.
McKinnie played left tackle on UM’s 2001 national championship team — the program’s fifth and last national championship.
McKinnie, a transfer from Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa., was a consensus All-American in 2001 — he finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting — and won the Outland Trophy. The offensive lineman never allowed a sack in his UM career.
McKinnie, the former Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl blocker, played 12 seasons in the NFL after being drafted No. 7 by the Vikings in 2002. He played nine seasons with Minnesota (200210) before spending two years with the Baltimore Ravens (201112). He played one season for his hometown Miami Dolphins (2013) before retiring.
In January, ex-Hurricanes linebacker Dan Morgan was named to the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame class.
Miami now has nine players and 13 overall representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame: Bennie Blades (2006), Don Bosseler (1990), Dennis Erickson (2019), Andy Gustafson (1985), Jack Harding (1980), Ted Hendricks (1987), Jimmy Johnson (2012), Russell Maryland (2011), Morgan (2021), Ed Reed (2018), Vinny Testaverde (2013), Gino Torretta (2009) and Arnold Tucker (2008).
Dorsey led the Hurricanes to the 2001 national championship, was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and is UM’s all-time leader in touchdown passes (86) and second in passing yards (9,565).
Legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger, who led the Hurricanes to their first national championship in 1983 and also built Florida Atlantic’s football program among his many coaching stops, was not on the ballot because he doesn’t meet the requirement of winning 60 percent of his games (He won 51 percent of his games as he built programs at Miami, Louisville and FAU). He died on March 27 at the age of 87.
This year’s ballot also includes 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks.
Candidates must meet certain eligibility criteria, including being a first-team All-American at some point during their careers. They must also have been 10 seasons removed from their final collegiate game.
The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class will be announced in early 2022.