Texas Tech names dot College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2024

Record-setting quarterback Graham Harrell is one of five former members of the Texas Tech football program on the ballot released Monday for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Harrell, a Tech letterman from 2005 through 2008, passed for 15,793 yards, second most in Big 12 history. He holds seven NCAA records, including one for most 400-yard passing games (20). He holds Tech and Big 12 career records for passes completed (1,403) and touchdown passes (134).

As a senior, he was named a first-team all-American by the American Football Coaches Association, won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Purdue hired Harrell in December as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He's had identical job titles at North Texas (2016-18), Southern California (2019-21) and West Virginia (2022). He also was on staff at Oklahoma State (2009) and Washington State (2014-15).

Also on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot are coaches Pete Cawthon, Jim Carlen and Tommy Tuberville and player Randy Page, who became an all-American at Central Oklahoma after two years at Tech.

Cawthon coached Tech from 1930 through 1940, going 76-32-6. His .693 winning percentage is the highest in the program's history. His teams had three one-loss seasons and two two-loss seasons.

Carlen coached Tech from 1970 through 1974, going 37-20-2 and being named Southwest Conference coach of the year three times. The highlight was an 11-1 season in 1973 that ended with a Gator Bowl victory over Tennessee. Carlen also coached West Virginia (1966-69) and South Carolina (1975-81) and had a career record of 107-69-6.

Tuberville coached Tech from 2010 through 2012, going 20-17. He also coached Mississippi (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008) and Cincinnati (2013-16) and has a career record of 159-99. His 2004 Auburn team went 13-0, and Tuberville was named national coach of the year by The Associated Press, the AFCA and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Page led Central Oklahoma to an NAIA national championship in 1982, when he earned second-team all-America recognition, and was a first-team all-American in 1983. He led Texas Tech in kickoff-return and punt-return yardage in 1978, when he played wide receiver, then moved to quarterback and redshirted in 1979. He played at UCO from 1981-83. 

The 2024 class for the College Football Hall of Fame will be announced early next year. The inductions are scheduled for Dec. 10, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner.

To be eligible, a player must have been a first-team all-America selection by one of the selectors recognized by the NCAA, have played in the past 50 years and be 10 years removed from college competition and no longer be playing professionally.

Coaches must be three years retired before being eligible, though that requirement is waived for coaches who retire at 70 or later or active coaches who are at least 75. He must have been a head football coach at least 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.

The ballot includes 78 players and nine coaches from the FBS and 101 players and 32 coaches from lower divisions.

In the announcement, NFF president and CEO Steve Hatchell said, "It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot," noting more than 5.62 million people have played college football and 1,074 have been inducted.