Good in the Game 1/14

Good morning, football fans! Make sure to tune into ESPN2 tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. ET for the official reveal of the 2025 National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame class!

A coaching legend earns his spot in the NFF Hall of Fame!

The first member of the 2025 National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame has been announced, and it is none other than seven-time national champion coach Nick Saban!

ESPN host Rece Davis surprised Saban with the news live during ESPN's College GameDay Built by The Home Depot prior to the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas. Saban is in his first season as an analyst on the show. Davis and the rest of the crew took part in the surprise,  congratulating the legendary coach on receiving college football's ultimate honor. Watch the surprise reveal by clicking here!

The rest of the 2025 class will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 15 on ESPN2 at 3:00 p.m. ET during "College Football Live."

📰: Nick Saban Elected to College Football Hall of Fame

The national champs get their trophies!

The NFF & College Hall of Fame presented the NFF divisional national championship trophies to the coaches of the 2024 winning teams on Jan. 12 at the AFCA Annual Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Below are the winners!

NCAA Football Championship Subdivision — John F. Kennedy Trophy
North Dakota State University — Coach Tim Polasek

NCAA Division II — Asa S. Bushnell Trophy
Ferris State University (MI) — Coach Tony Annese

NCAA Division III — Amos Alonzo Stagg Trophy
North Central College (IL) — Coach Brad Spencer

NAIA — Dwight D. Eisenhower Trophy
Grand View University (IA) — Coach Joe Woodley

📰: NFF Presents Divisional Championship Trophies at AFCA Convention

Did you play football? Then it’s time to get involved in the
National Football Foundation’s ‘I Played’ Campaign!

To contribute your story and become part of the ‘I Played’ campaign, click here!

Share how your experience playing football has changed your life and inspired your personal and professional growth.

Prefer to send your submission as a video? Film it on your phone and email it to [email protected] — the videos will be shared on NFF social and digital channels as part of the series!

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, LaVar Arrington sits down with 2020 Hall of Famer Cade McNown to discuss how he got to UCLA, getting into his first game against Ray Lewis and the Miami Hurricanes plus what football has meant to him and how the NFF has helped him give back to the sport he loves so much.

2025 NFF High School Showcases

The NFF High School Showcases provide thousands of eligible high school football players an opportunity for academic and participation scholarships to play at the next level.

Feb. 1, 2025
The 17th Annual Houston Texans Senior Showcase powered by Gatorade will take place at the Texans Methodist Training Center next door to NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Feb. 14-15, 2025
The 9th Annual Orange Bowl Florida High School Football Showcase, Presented by Baptist Health, will take place at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Feb. 15, 2025
The Third Annual Arizona Senior Showcase will be held 15 at Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona.

Feb. 22, 2025
The 12th Annual Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase will take place at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.

NFF Trustee and Arizona Cardinals principal owner Michael Bidwill scrambled to help divisional rival Los Angeles Rams in the wake of the Southern California wildfires this week. Without a new venue for their wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, the Rams needed an alternative for what would have been a home game at SoFi Stadium.

Bidwill stepped up, offering up State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, including rebranding the venue with the Rams colors; sending two Boeing 777 planes to pick up the Rams, staff, their families and pets; finding game day workers; and conducting numerous other actions to prepare the stadium for the game.

📰: Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill on helping Rams host playoff game: ‘Always a good time to do the right thing’
^NFL.com

The Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced that NFF Hall of Fame Coach Mack Brown is this year’s Davey O’Brien Legends Award recipient. Brown is the first coach to be named a Legends Award recipient since the Foundation expanded the award’s criteria in 2024.

📰: Mack Brown To Receive Davey O’Brien Legends Award
^{Davey O’Brien Award}

📰: How a Minnesota limo driver invented the tech that’s changing college football
^{Fast Company}

📰: Kirk Herbstreit’s dogs are a dose of feel-good for college football and for our souls
^{The Oklahoman}

Bill McCartney, the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame coach who headed the Colorado program from 1982 to 1994, passed away Jan. 10 after a long illness in Boulder. He was 84.

McCartney guided the Buffaloes to their first national title and to more bowl games than any other coach in CU football history. He retired as the winningest coach in CU football history with a 93-55-5 record during 13 seasons. 

Paul Vellano Sr., a First Team All-American on the Maryland defensive line in 1973 and Honorable Mention All-American the year before in 1972, has passed away. He was 72.

As we remember Bill McCartney, take a look back at the former Colorado coach’s NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute from 2013.

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