Former Carson-Newman football coach Ken Sparks is on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, a former national champion quarterback at Oklahoma, is on the ballot for the sixth straight year as a player. Wide receivers Willie Gault and Larry Seivers are also in consideration again.
There are 79 players and nine coaches from the FBS on the 2026 ballot, and the class will be announced in early 2026. The induction ceremony will be held during the NFF annual awards dinner on Dec. 8, 2026 in Las Vegas.
Sparks won 338 games at the Jefferson City college. Sparks retired after the 2016 season. He died in 2017 after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Sparks coached at several Knoxville area high schools, most notably going 29-5 in three seasons at Farragut from 1977-79. He took over at his alma mater in 1980 and Carson-Newman became a juggernaut, claiming five NAIA national titles in the decade. Carson-Newman won NAIA titles in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1989.
Moving to NCAA Division II in 1990, Carson-Newman remained a frequent playoff participant. The Eagles didn’t win another championship but reached the title game in 1996, 1998 and finally, 1999, a 58-52 four-overtime loss to Northwest Missouri State.
Carson-Newman made the playoffs in 25 of Sparks’ 37 seasons.
Heupel, a 2000 consensus first-team All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up, led Oklahoma to the 2000 national championship after winning the Orange Bowl. Heupel was a Walter Camp Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year and left the Sooners as the leader in almost every school passing record even though he only played two seasons.
Gault led Tennessee to three bowl berths during his career from 1979-82. He set six conference punt and kickoff return records and tied the NCAA record for most kickoff return touchdowns in a single season (three) in 1980. A 1982 first-team All-American, Gault had 82 catches for 1,482 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in his career.
He was also a prolific hurdler and sprinter for Tennessee. Gault finished his career with the Vols holding 12 school records in football and three in track and field.
Seivers, who played at UT from 1972-76, was the first in program history to surpass 800 receiving yards in a single season. A two-time consensus first-team All-American, Seivers left Tennessee with more catches than anyone (117) and the most receiving yards (1,924). He followed his 840-yard season with 737 yards his season year.
There are 23 Tennessee players in the College Football Hall of Fame. Defensive tackle John Henderson is the most recent member as an inductee of the 2025 class. There are five coaches or former Vols who were inducted as coaches.
Tennessee Vols in College Football Hall of Fame
- 1954 Gene McEver
- 1955 Beattie Feathers
- 1956 Robert R. Neyland (coach)
- 1959 Herman Hickman
- 1959 Bobby Dodd
- 1961 Bob Suffridge
- 1967 Nathan Dougherty
- 1969 George Cafego
- 1972 Bowden Wyatt
- 1981 Hank Lauricella
- 1985 Doug Atkins
- 1987 Johnny Majors
- 1989 Bob Johnson
- 1990 Ed Molinski
- 1993 Steve DeLong
- 1993 Bobby Dodd (as Georgia Tech coach)
- 1996 John Michels
- 1997 Bowden Wyatt (coach)
- 1999 Steve Kiner
- 2002 Reggie White
- 2003 Doug Dickey (coach)
- 2004 Frank Emanuel
- 2006 Chip Kell
- 2012 Phillip Fulmer (coach)
- 2017 Peyton Manning
- 2021 Al Wilson
- 2023 Eric Berry
- 2025 John Henderson
