NFF Announces 2012 Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame Class

From the national ballot of 76 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees, Archie Manning, chairman of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, announced last week the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision Class, which includes the names of 14 First Team All-America players and three legendary coaches.

PLAYERS

• CHARLES ALEXANDER - TB, LSU (1975-78)
• OTIS ARMSTRONG - HB, Purdue (1970-72)
• STEVE BARTKOWSKI - QB, California (1972-74)
• HAL BEDSOLE - SE, Southern California (1961-63)
• DAVE CASPER - TE, Notre Dame (1971-73)
• TY DETMER - QB, BYU (1988-91)
• TOMMY KRAMER - QB, Rice (1973-76)
• ART MONK - WR, Syracuse (1976-79)
• GREG MYERS - DB, Colorado State (1992-95)
• JONATHAN OGDEN - OT, UCLA (1992-95)
• GABE RIVERA - DT, Texas Tech (1979-82)
• MARK SIMONEAU - LB, Kansas State (1996-99)
• SCOTT THOMAS - S, Air Force (1982-85)
• JOHN WOOTEN* - OG, Colorado (1956-58)

* Selection from the FBS Veterans Committee

COACHES

• PHILLIP FULMER - 152-52-0 (74.5%); Tennessee (1992-08)
• JIMMY JOHNSON - 81-34-3 (70.0%); Oklahoma State (1979-83) and Miami (Fla.) (1984-88)
• R.C. SLOCUM - 123-47-2 (72.1%); Texas A&M (1989-02)

The 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 4, 2012, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be honored guests at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, 2013 and officially enshrined in the summer of 2013.

To read the full release, please click here. TO SEE A REPLAY OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ON NFF OnDEMAND, CLICK HERE.

George Bodenheimer to Receive NFF Distinguished American Award

The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced last week that ESPN Executive Chairman George Bodenheimer will be honored with the organization's 2012 NFF Distinguished American Award. One of the most prestigious honors presented by the NFF, the award honors an outstanding person who has maintained a lifetime of interest in the game and who, over a long period of time, has exhibited enviable leadership qualities and made a significant contribution to the betterment of amateur football in the United States.

First bestowed in 1966, the NFF Distinguished American Award is presented on special occasions when a truly deserving candidate emerges. Bodenheimer will become the 41st recipient of the award, joining an impressive list of previous honorees that includes Tom Brokaw, Bob Hope, Vince Lombardi, Alan Page, T. Boone Pickens, Pete Rozelle, Jimmy Stewart and Pat Tillman.

To read the full release please click here.

TIME OUT: Football Officiating in Japan

EXCLUSIVELY to Monday's Chalktalk, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, provides insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.

One of the best-kept secrets of American football is that the game has been played in Japan for almost eighty years. The first game took place in Tokyo on Thanksgiving Day of 1934 between the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club and the All-Tokyo Collegiate Team. Except for the war years 1941-45, the game has been played under NCAA rules ever since.

Credit for introducing the game to Japan goes to Dr. Paul Rusch, an American Army officer. Rusch had gone to Japan on assignment and later became a professor at St. John's University in Tokyo. He brought the game to Japan as a way of encouraging the development of team play and leadership among the people with whom he worked. Currently about 200 universities throughout Japan have teams involving some 17,000 student-athletes. The "look and feel" of a game in Japan differs very little from a Division II or III game here in America. The players are well coached. They play the game with the intensity and gusto, coupled with the famous Japanese traits of courtesy and respect.

Japanese football officials have had a relationship with their counterparts here in the states for more than three decades. American and Japanese officials have exchanged visits many times over these years. It is not at all uncommon to see Japanese officials at conference clinics.

I recently spent a couple of weeks in Japan, conducting clinics for college officials in Tokyo and Osaka. It gave me an opportunity to critique the officials by observing games during their spring exhibition season. My experience has been that the Japanese are very good officials. They work hard and take their officiating very seriously. They regularly translate the NCAA football rules book and mechanics manual, and they use the vaunted Japanese technology to train and evaluate their officials in much the same way we do here in America.

THE BLITZ

College Football Hall of Famer Ace Parker (Duke), the oldest living member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, celebrated his 100th birthday last week.

NFF Board Member Kevin Plank's horse Tiger Walk ran in Saturday's Preakness Stakes. It marked the first time a Plank-owned horse competed in a Triple Crown event.

Texas head coach Mack Brown received the inaugural Gene Stallings Award for his humanitarian endeavors last week in Dallas. Coach Stallings is a 2010 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Texas A&M and Alabama.

College Football Hall of Famer Bill Redell (Occidental [Calif.]) has been hired as his alma mater's head football coach.

College Football Hall of Famer Pat Richter (Wisconsin) was honored as the Big Ten Club Person of the Year by the Big Ten Club of Southern California last week in Pasadena, Calif.

College Football Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden will be the featured speaker at St. Mark United Methodist Church's Mission Banquet in Northport, Ala., on June 12.

2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Chandler Harnish (Northern Illinois), the final pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, will be honored as Mr. Irrelevant on June 24-25 in Newport Beach, Calif.

The late Fred Russell, who served as chairman of the NFF Honors Court for 29 years and passed away in 2003, is the subject of a new book, Life of Dreams: The Good Times of Sportswriter Fred Russell by Andrew Derr. The book chronicles his 69-year tenure working at the Nashville Banner as one of the most respected sports journalists for the 20th Century. Click here to learn more:

Albany, Arkansas, Big Sky Conference, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colonial Athletic Association, Georgia State, Harvard, Iowa State, LSU, Lycoming (Pa.), Mid-American Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, North Texas, Northwood (Mich.), SMU, Sacramento State, South Florida and Texas A&M - Commerce have joined the NFF as Institutional Academic Members.

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OVER THE MIDDLE

NFF Regional Coordinator Howie Vandersea was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday. . . . The NFF State of Maine Chapter will hold its annual banquet on Wednesday.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Scheduling

The Big Ten has announced its 2015 and 2016 league schedules. . . . The Big 12 and SEC have announced a new bowl game pitting each league's respective champions to begin after the 2014 season. . . . Alabama and West Virginia will meet in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Aug. 30, 2014.

Media

The 2012 College Sports Media Awards nominees have been announced. . . . The ACC has announced its early-season TV schedule. . . . ESPNU will televise N.C. State vs. Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 31 from Atlanta. . . . ESPN will show Auburn vs. Clemson at 7 p.m. ET on Sat., Sept. 1 from Atlanta. . . . ESPN will show Washington State at BYU at 10:15 p.m. ET on Thurs., Aug. 30, and BYU at Boise State at 9 p.m. ET on Thurs., Sept. 20, Hawaii at BYU at 8 p.m. ET on Fri., Sept. 28, and Utah State at BYU at 10:15 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 5. . . . Weber State at BYU will air at 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 8 on BYUtv.

Community Service

Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood has been named an Honorary Coach by Special Olympics New Jersey. Rutgers will also host the Second Annual "A Walk to Believe" on June 2. . . . Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips and three football players embarked on a mission trip to Ethiopia on Friday. . . . Former Western Michigan player Tony Scheffler received the 2011 Ron Kramer Unsung Hero Award as a part of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund Fourth Annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Friday. . . . TCU head coach Gary Patterson and his wife, Kelsey, served as the event chairs at the A Wish with Wings luncheon Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas. A Wish with Wings looks to grant wishes for youth with life threatening conditions. . . . Delaware conducted the Second Annual University of Delaware Athletics & Recreation Services / Warner Elementary School Community Field Day on Wednesday. Blue Hens head coach K.C. Keeler and his wife, Janice, will host a dinner on June 5 benefitting the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware.

Facilities

Dale Halton will have the UNC - Charlotte football field house named in her honor after a significant donation to the football program. . . . Baylor has announced the bridge leading to its new, on-campus football stadium will be named in honor of Sheila and Walter Umphrey after the couple's gift to the construction of the stadium.

Miscellaneous

The College of Idaho has announced it will welcome football back to its campus beginning in the fall of 2014. . . . Bill Bradshaw (Temple), Dave Brandon (Michigan), Ian McCaw (Baylor), Jeff Long (Arkansas) and Mark Hollis (Michigan State) have been announced as finalists for the Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year award. . . . Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has been named a finalist for the Sports Business Journal Sports Executive of the Year award. . . . The Pac-12 Conference has been nominated for the Sports Business Journal Sports League of the Year. . . . TCU has sold out its allotment of 30,000 season tickets for the 2012 season. It is the third consecutive year the school has reached its allotment of season tickets. . . . Former football player Louie Kelcher was inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame last week. . . . Former running back Paul Gipson, former football coach Don Todd and the 1976 Cougars football team have been selected to the University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor. . . . Tennessee will conduct a week of training camp at Milligan College in Johnson City, Tenn., from Aug. 9-15. . . . Temple has broken its fundraising record, the school has announced. . . . More than 3,000 fans attended the six-day, 16-event Ole Miss Rebel Road Trip. . . . Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn conducted a state-wide speaking tour May 15-17. . . . DePauw (Ind.) sports information director Bill Wagner will receive the CoSIDA 25-Year Award and former Southern Illinois SID Fred Huff has been named a Veteran CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee. The honorees will be recognized at the group's 2012 convention in St. Louis June 23-26.

Obituaries

Former West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart passed away Monday, May 21. He was 59. . . . Former Monmouth College (Ill.) football player and Ford Motor Co. CEO Harold "Red" Pauling passed away Saturday, May 12. He was 86. . . . Former Clemson wide receiver Brian Wofford passed away Friday, May 18. He was 34. . . . Idaho football player Ken McRoyal passed away Sunday, May 13. He was 22. . . . Former Notre Dame player Bill Walsh passed away Sunday, May 13. He was 84. . . . Former Miami, Fla. player Don Mariutto passed away Monday, May 14. He was 81.

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2012 Key NFF Dates

May 22, 2012 - Announcement of the 2012 Divisional Inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame - Dallas, Texas

July 20-21, 2012 - College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival - South Bend, Indiana

Sept. 27, 2012 - Announcement of the 2012 Campbell Trophy Semifinalists - Dallas, Texas

Oct. 25, 2012 - Announcement of the 2012 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments and Campbell Trophy Finalists - Dallas, Texas

Dec. 4, 2012 - 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner - Waldorf=Astoria Hotel, New York City

Dec. 4, 2012 - The 23rd Presentation of Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, to the nation's top scholar-athlete at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.

Jan. 2, 2013 - National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La.

Jan. 7, 2013 - Presentation of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award - Miami, Fla.

Jan. 8, 2013 - MacArthur Bowl Presentation to the BCS National Champion - Miami, Fla.

NFF Information

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The 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, at New York City's Waldorf=Astoria. For more ticket information, please contact NFF Director of National Events Will Rudd at 1-800-486-1865 or via email at wrudd@footballfoundation.com.

Notes

The NFF would like to thank correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.

NFF Chalktalk items are welcome, and should be submitted to news@footballfoundation.com.