Three legendary former Tennessee Football players are set to appear on the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot, as announced by the National Football Foundation on Monday.
VFLs Willie Gault and Larry Seivers will appear on the ballot once again while John Henderson makes his ballot debut in 2025. 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 more unforgettable Tennessee receivers to wear the colors. Gault had 15 total 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 on Rocky Top in 1982, Gault was named an All-SEC and All-American selection.
Larry Seivers, on the other hand, is a native of Clinton, Tennessee, and was on the Vols’ 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 games, 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.
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Henderson, a former graduate of Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville, attended the University of Tennessee from 1998 to 2001. “Big John” embodied the passion and spirit of Tennessee football throughout his entire career and was named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
“That dude was a bad dude back in the day,” said former Tennessee standout Derek Barnett in 2014.
Henderson was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the ninth overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.
In addition to the Vols’ three players announced on Monday, another Tennessee-related figure was also named to the list. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel will appear on the 2025 ballot for his fifth-straight year as a National Championship-winning quarterback at Oklahoma in 2000.
The official 2025 College Football Hall of Fame will be announced in early 2025 at a time to be revealed later on. Once the class is announced, the selections will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025.
