Mark Ingram, the first Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy, and Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald, two of the most fearsome defensive linemen of their era, highlight the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame class announced Wednesday.
Gary Patterson of TCU and Chris Petersen of Boise State and Washington are among four coaches who will be inducted at the National Football Foundation’s awards dinner in December in Las Vegas.
The class includes six consensus first-team All-Americans, four multiyear first-team All-Americans and eight major award winners.
Also in the class are Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch, former Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz (Washington) and former Bears cornerback and kick returner Jerry Azumah (New Hampshire).
Lynch finished third in Heisman Trophy voting in 2013 and led the Huskies to an Orange Bowl berth in 2012. NIU went 24-4 in his two seasons as the starter. He’s now the head coach at his high school alma mater, Mount Carmel, and has led the Caravan to four straight state titles and five in all.
Kreutz, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro with the Bears, was a consensus All-American at Washington in 1997.
Azumah starred at running back at New Hampshire, winning the 1998 Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in Division I-AA (now FCS), before switching to defense in the NFL. He made the Pro Bowl in 2003 as a kick returner.
Ingram won the Heisman in 2009 while leading Alabama to a 14-0 record and national championship. He led the SEC in rushing with a school-record 1,658 yards and scored 20 touchdowns. He finished his Alabama career as the school’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns. He played 12 seasons in the NFL.
Nebraska’s Suh turned in one of the most dominant seasons by a defensive lineman in 2009, sweeping the Bednarik, Lombardi, Nagurski and Outland trophies and being voted Associated Press national player of the year. He was the first defensive lineman in 15 years to be a Heisman finalist. Last August he was named to the All-Time AP All-America first team. Suh recorded 12 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss in 2009 and went on to play 13 NFL seasons.
Pittsburgh’s Donald, like Suh, swept the major defensive awards in his last college season. He led the nation with 28½ tackles for a loss in 2013 and remains Pitt’s leader in career and single-season tackles for a loss. He played all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and teamed with Suh on their defensive line in 2018.
Among the offensive players joining Ingram in the hall are wide receivers Peter Warrick of Florida State and Marvin Harrison of Syracuse.
Warrick starred in the late 1990s for an FSU team that never finished ranked lower than No. 3 during his career. He was a two-time first-team All-American as the Seminoles compiled a 45–4 record, won a national championship and played for another title. He finished his career as the ACC’s all-time leader in receiving yards and second in touchdown receptions. He played six NFL seasons.
Harrison excelled as a kick returner and wide receiver, setting multiple school records. He set the Big East record with a 94-yard punt-return touchdown against Minnesota in 1995 and ranked among the league’s all-time leaders in 100-yard receiving games (13) and receiving touchdowns (20). He played 13 NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Other players entering the hall are Ki-Jana Carter of Penn State, Bruce Collie of Texas-Arlington, George Cumby of Oklahoma, Garrison Hearst of Georgia, Chris Hudson of Colorado, James Laurinaitis of Ohio State, Herman Moore of Virginia, Terence Newman of Kansas State, Bob Novogratz of Army and Eric Weddle of Utah.
In addition to Patterson and Petersen, coaches who will be inducted are Jim Margraff of Johns Hopkins and Ken Sparks of Carson-Newman.
