Nick Saban, Urban Meyer appear on 2025 College Football Hall of Fame ballot in first year of eligibility

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer appear poised to be inducted into the College football Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility amid the National Football Foundation’s Monday morning release in which legendary coaches are among those listed on the ballot for the 2025 class.

The two have combined for 10 national championships and 479 victories since 1990. Their election would elevate two of the best coaches of this generation. Saban is arguably the best coach of all time, having won 292 total games and seven national championships at two schools – LSU (1) and Alabama (6). Meyer won three national stage championships in Florida (2) and Ohio State (1).

Nine of those 10 combined championships have come since 2006, the year the SEC began its current run of dominance. The league has won 13 of the last 18 national championships since then. Saban and Meyer have combined for eight of those 13 national championships since 2006.

Saban is on the ballot five months after retiring as Alabama’s coach. The criteria allow retired coaches to become eligible immediately as long as they are at least 70 years old. Saban, 72, retired Jan. 10. Meyer, meanwhile, is eligible because it has been “three full seasons after retirement.” He last coached in 2021, in an abbreviated stop with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. Meyer last coached in college with Ohio State in 2018. The Buckeyes won their first College Football Playoff in the 2014 season under Meyer.

Coaches must also have a winning percentage of at least .600 and have coached in at least 100 games to be eligible. Saban finished 292-71-1 (.804) in 28 seasons. Meyer, whose name still comes up as a coaching candidate every offseason, is 187-32 (.854) in 17 seasons.

Meyer is third all-time in FBS winning percentage behind Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. Saban is sixth in all-time wins.

Early in his final season at Ohio State, Meyer was suspended for his handling of an alleged domestic violence case involving assistant coach Zach Smith. He retired after the Buckeyes’ Rose Bowl over Washington in 2015 after winning his third Big Ten title.

Saban and Meyer are among nine coaches nominated for voting. Other notable FBS coaches eligible for induction include Tommy Tuberville (Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech, Cincinnati), Ralph Friedgen (Maryland) and Larry Coker (Miami, UTSA).

The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class will be announced in January.

Among the 77 players nominated for voting is first-time candidate Aaron Donald of Pittsburgh.

The star defensive tackle is considered one of the best at his position in both college and the NFL. He was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year with the Rams. In college, Donald was the national defensive player of the year with the Panthers, as well as a unanimous All-American his senior year.

Donald retired in March after a 10-year NFL career in which he recorded 111 sacks. He earned All-Pro status in each of those 10 seasons.

At Pittsburgh, Donald had 29.5 career sacks and 66 tackles for loss. In senior year 2013, Donald had one of the best defensive seasons in history. In addition to 11 sacks, he had 28.5 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.