From the national ballot of 75 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees, Archie Manning, chairman of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, announced the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) Class, which includes the names of 13 First Team All-America players and two legendary coaches.

Among the induction class is former Buckeye football coach John Cooper. Cooper was the first coach in history to lead both a Big Ten and a Pac-10 team to victories in the Rose Bowl. He ranks second only to the legendary Woody Hayes in all-time wins at Ohio State.

Under Cooper’s watch, Ohio State teams finished the regular season ranked in the Top 25 in 12 of his 13 seasons in Columbus. He tallied at least a share of nine conference championships, including five at Tulsa, one at Arizona State and three at Ohio State. A four-time American Football Coaches Association (AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, Cooper led his teams to 14 bowl games in 24 seasons.

A Tennessee native and former MVP on the Iowa State football team, Cooper coached Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and two-time Lombardi winner Orlando Pace as well as 20 First Team All-Americans, seven NFF National Scholar-Athletes and one NFF Draddy Trophy recipient during his career.

Cooper formerly served as the president of the American Football Coaches Association and as a professional scout in the NFL. He currently acts as a college football analyst for ESPN and resides in Columbus, Ohio.

“I want to commend the NFF Honors Court and its Chairman Gene Corrigan for their hard work,” said Manning. “The 2008 class represents six decades of football’s finest athletes, and they are all exceptionally worthy of having their accomplishments preserved forever in the College Football Hall of Fame.”

The 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 9, 2008, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in the summer of 2009.

2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS PLAYERS
• TROY AIKMAN – QB, UCLA (1987-88)
• BILLY CANNON – RB, LSU (1957-59)
• JIM DOMBROWSKI – OT, Virginia (1982-85)
• PAT FITZGERALD – LB, Northwestern (1994-96)
• WILBER MARSHALL – LB, Florida (1980-83)
• RUEBEN MAYES – RB, Washington State (1982-85)
• RANDALL McDANIEL – OG, Arizona State (1984-87)
• DON McPHERSON – QB, Syracuse (1984-87)
• JAY NOVACEK – TE, Wyoming (1982-84)
• DAVE PARKS – SE, Texas Tech (1961-63)
• RON SIMMONS – NG, Florida State (1977-80)
• THURMAN THOMAS – RB, Oklahoma State (1984-87)
• ARNOLD TUCKER – QB, Army (1944-46)

COACHES
• JOHN COOPER – 192-84-6 (.691) – Tulsa (1977-84), Arizona State (1985-87), Ohio State (1988-2000)
• LOU HOLTZ – 249-132-7 (.651) – William & Mary (1969-71), NorthCarolina State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83), Minnesota (1984-85), Notre Dame (1986-96), South Carolina (1999-2004)

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