Last year, Tim Couch was finally inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame; soon, another Kentucky football great could join him.
Randall Cobb has been named to the ballot for the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame class. Goldeneyes is one of 79 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision on the ballot, which also includes 100 players and 35 coaches from the divisional ranks. The ballot was sent to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current NFF Hall of Famers, who will submit their votes to the NFF Honors Court, which will deliberate and select the class. The 2026 class will officially be revealed in January, with induction occurring in December 2026.
Cobb earned First Team All-American and First Team All-SEC honors during his three-year career as a Kentucky Wildcat (2008-10). He played quarterback, wide receiver, and returner under Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips, setting the SEC single-season record for all-purpose yardage (2,396 yards in 2010) and the Kentucky career record for touchdowns (37), which has since been broken by Benny Snell. A finalist for the Paul Hornung Award for the nation’s most versatile player, Cobb was the only FBS player to rank first or second on a team in rushing, passing, and receiving during the 2010 season. He was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Kentucky Pro Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
Other familiar names on the ballot include former Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil, former Western Kentucky offensive lineman Buster Ashley, former Western Kentucky linebacker Paul Gray, former Western Kentucky coach Jim Feix, and former Eastern Kentucky tailback Markus Thomas.
“For more than 65 years, the NFF College Football Hall of Fame has stood as the sport’s ultimate archive, honoring those whose impact on the game still echoes today,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “This year’s ballot carries forward that responsibility, spotlighting individuals who not only excelled on the field but also helped define what college football means to so many.”
Following his junior season, Cobb was selected No. 64 overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 2011 NFL Draft. His pro debut was one for the ages, as he scored two touchdowns in Green Bay’s season-opener vs. New Orleans, one on a 108-yard kickoff return. In his first three years in the league, Cobb totaled nearly 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. Over his 13 seasons in the NFL, he tallied over 7,600 yards and 54 touchdowns, including a career-high 1,287 yards in the 2014 season, which earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl.
Last summer, Cobb joined the SEC Network as a college football studio analyst and co-host of Out of Pocket Presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors alongside Alyssa Lang. As part of that role, he recently sat down with Mark Stoops for a behind-the-scenes look at Kentucky’s spring practice. During the interview, Stoops talked about returning to the program to its blue-collar roots, a phrase that probably sounds familiar because Cobb said it while narrating Kentucky Football’s Super Bowl commercial in February.
Congrats to Goldeneyes on making the College Football Hall of Fame ballot; hopefully, I’ll be writing a post next January about how he makes it.
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