Former Razorback Dan Hampton with the Chicago Bears in a game in November 1985. — (Manny Rubio / USA TODAY Sports)

Former Razorback Dan Hampton Deserves in CFB Hall of Fame

It took something from Hall of Fame coach to get him in right spot in 1975 and now should get him in college Hall of Fame

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Jun 7, 2023 5:10 PM EDT

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With today's limitations, Arkansas might have never had Dan Hampton on the roster and didn't particularly recruit him as a defensive lineman back in the spring of 1975 out of Jacksonville. Now he's on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

"I wasn't really good," Hampton said Wednesday morning from his place in Chicago. "My senior year I had a leg infection from when I was fooling around and a motorcycle fell on my leg. I wasn't super strong, but I got better and stronger."

Hampton was good enough to be selected to the High School All-Star Game in 1975, which was played at War Memorial Stadium. He was an offensive guard, though, because they had a rule requiring a three-man defensive front back then and East coach Sam Goodwin from Little Rock Parkview put him on offense where he had a really solid game on a blisteringly hot night in Little Rock.

"After the game we had to get to Fayetteville and my brother drove me up there," Hampton said. That All-Star Game was in August and Frank Broyles started workouts before players in that game got there. The number of recruits was a lot smaller and playing in that game was a good public relations move for the Razorbacks.

Finding out his number assignment was when he discovered they didn't have one for him on offense. Defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson saw him on film and got him on defense, probably without a lot of argument from anybody.

"I want that kid on defense," Johnson told Broyles. It was just one of his decisions in Fayetteville that showed just how great he was going to be as a head coach. You get the idea he would have been the choice of Hampton and the rest of the defense when Broyles stepped down as coach in 1976. Lou Holtz wasn't bad, but he wasn't Johnson.

"The proof is in the pudding," Hampton said. "Both were great coaches. In the 1975 opener against Air Force (again in Little Rock on a steaming night in September) he would have one of his buddies film the first eight minutes of the game, get it developed and have it back for us at halftime, then we made adjustments. He was ahead of his time."

Johnson developed Hampton on the defensive line and Monte Kiffin took over in 1977 as the coordinator on the best team in the modern era of Razorback football. Hampton was one of the key members of a team that also had another All-American in Jimmy Walker on the front. Middle linebacker Larry Jackson was the ABC Defensive Player of the Year.

That team finished 11-1 with a whopping 31-6 defeat of No. 2 Oklahoma and joined Alabama in getting leap-frogged by Notre Dame in the final ranking. No Razorback team has finished a season ranked that high since or really come close. They probably deserved a title just as much as the 1964 team that finished 11-0 after the final voting had taken place where they finished No. 2.

The 1978 team was probably just as good until they got hosed against Texas in Austin when they were leading in the fourth quarter and Hampton was called for a late hit on Longhorns quarterback Randy McEachern. It wasn't even close to being late, especially under the loose ruling in those days. They lost to Houston the next week, mainly because they couldn't shake that loss to Texas. The Hogs finished 9-2-1 with a tie on Christmas Day in the Fiesta Bowl against UCLA.

Hampton developed. He was the fourth player chosen in the 1979 draft and, coached by Buddy Ryan, and went on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career on a defense was pretty good. That's a serious understatement.

During Hampton's tenure in Chicago (1979–90), the Bears defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL in allowing the fewest rushing yards, fewest rushing touchdowns, fewest total yards, fewest points and inflicted the most sacks. That's what got him to Canton, Ohio, but isn't a factor in the college hall of fame.

"A lot of players were great in college but couldn't cut it in the pros," Hampton said. He knows that pro career isn't what decides it, but there's not really a defined list of numbers to make any hall of fame and a lot of it comes down to the popular opinion and public relations.

"I don't have a game plan for it," he said. "A lot of guys' only chance at a Hall of Fame is in college." Big pro careers don't always follow a great college career with injuries and all sorts of possible complications. It comes down to getting it out there. That probably should come from the University of Arkansas where it could make a big difference and be a big step for the entire program. The Razorbacks have just six former players that are inducted in the college hall.

"In the abstract, I don't wake up thinking about it," Hampton said. "I didn't have anybody carrying my water to make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame." There was somebody, though, that pointed toward those great numbers with the Bears' defense that helped push his selection through. A numbers cruncher in New Mexico pointed all those great numbers with the Bears and he made it to Canton.

His numbers at Arkansas were impressive. As a senior, Hampton was an All-American, nailing 98 tackles (18 behind the line of scrimmage). He was also named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1978. In addition, that same season, Hampton was named by the Houston Post the SWC Player of the Year.[2] As a junior, he had 70 tackles (8 for a loss). In 1976, as a sophomore, Hampton made 48 tackles (2 for losses) and recovered two fumbles. As a freshman, he had 21 tackles (4 for a loss). In his career, he made a total of 237 tackles with 32 being behind the line of scrimmage and recovered six fumbles. He was a four-year letterman, a three-year starter at Arkansas and a two-time All-Conference selection. He was also a member of the Razorback All-Decade team of the 1970s.

He was a three-year starter on teams that finished 43-10-2. Take away a disastrous 1976 team that was 5-5-1 because they were holding walk-on tryouts at one point and they were 30-5-1. His last two seasons he was a key starter on teams that finished 20-3-1. Hampton played in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl.

He needs someone to help carry the water to push this though. These halls of fame aren't based just on numbers, although that may happen in a perfect world. At any level it comes down to humans using a non-standard set of variables and a lot of personal preference to pick who's going to be inducted.

"If that guy doesn't call me from New Mexico I wouldn't be in the Hall of Fame," he said. "I love my time at Arkansas, but the last 40 years I've been part of this world (Chicago)."

He deserves it because the teams at Arkansas' success was due in a big part of Hampton's contributions.

"I'd like to see it happen," Hampton said. Now it's going to be up to voters from the National Football Foundation and the Football Writers of America. Hopefully enough of the information gets to them to get noticed. Hampton deserves to be in there.