A pair of Tennessee legends are back on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot as they look to enshrine their names into college football history.
Former Tennessee receivers Willie Gault and Larry Seivers both return to the ballot in 2024, as announced by the National Football Foundation on Monday morning.
Current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel also landed on the ballot on Monday thanks to his National Championship-winning playing days while he was the quarterback at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2000.
Gault first hit the College Football HoF ballot in 2021 while Seivers’ first appearance on the ballot was in 2022.
Willie Gault, a native of Griffin, Georgia, was a prolific dual-sport athlete at Tennessee as a wide receiver and track athlete. Gault was a six-time SEC individual champion in track & field, a two-time NCAA individual champion in track & field, and an 11-time track & field All-American selection.
On the gridiron, though, Gault used that speed to his advantage and eventually became one of the most unforgettable Tennessee receivers to wear the Power T. Gault had a total of 15 touchdowns during his Tennessee career: 10 receiving touchdowns, four kickoff return touchdowns, and one punt return score. By the end of his senior and final season at Tennessee in 1982, Gault was named an All-SEC and All-American selection.
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Larry Seivers, on the other hand, is a native of Clinton, Tennessee, and was on the Tennessee football team from 1972 to 1976. After only appearing in one game during his first season and redshirting his second season, Seivers found his breakout year in Knoxville in 1974. The redshirt-sophomore receiver came up with 25 receptions in 11 games for the Volunteers. That was only the beginning, though, as the next two years at Tennessee made him into the legend that he is remembered as.
Ending his Tennessee career with 117 receptions and 1,924 yards in 34 total games played, Seivers was named a First-Team All-SEC and First-Team All-American selection in 1975 and 1976 and was the 1977 SEC Athlete of the Year.
Aside from Heupel, Gault, and Seivers, the 2024 ballot is stacked with new and returning ballot names such as Justin Blackmon, Dallas Clark, Tim Couch, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison, Ryan Leaf, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Oher, Michael Vick, and many more.
Tennessee leads the SEC with a total of 26 College Football Hall of Fame inductees including 22 players and four coaches. The most recent addition that Tennessee has on the horizon is defensive back Eric Berry, who will enter the Hall of Fame with the class of 2023.
