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North Carolina A&T has strong ties on CFB Hall of Fame ballot

Courtesy of North Carolina A&T Athletics

GREENSBORO — Two former North Carolina A&T head football coaching legends and the current head football coach have made their way on the 2025 ballot for consideration of making the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Football Hall of Fame has announced.

College football coaching legends and former Aggie head coach Bill Hayes and Rod Broadway were among 34 coaches from the divisional ranks nominated, while current North Carolina A&T head coach Vincent Brown, a Mississippi Valley State University graduate, was among 101 former players from the divisional ranks nominated.

“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.7 million people have played college football and only 1,093 players have been inducted,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.”

The ballot was emailed today to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Court, which will deliberate and select the class. The Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, includes an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and media members.

“Having a ballot and a voice in the selection of the College Football Hall of Fame inductees is one of the most cherished NFF member benefits,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, a 1989 Hall of Fame inductee from Mississippi. “There is no group more knowledgeable or passionate about college football than our membership, and the tradition of the ballot helps us engage them in the lofty responsibility of selecting those who have reached the pinnacle of achievement in our sport.”

The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be announced in early 2025, and specific details will be announced later.

The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025, at the Bellagio Hotel & Resort. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2025 season.

Of the 5.7 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,093 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game during the past 154 seasons. From the coaching ranks, 233 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.

North Carolina A&T College Football Hall of Fame

BILL HAYES

Hayes is considered a pioneer in the coaching profession. In 1973, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football program named him its offensive backs coach, making him the first African-American coach in the ACC. Three years later, Hayes took over as the head coach of the Winston-Salem State Rams, coaching the Rams for 12 seasons (1976-87).

He led the Rams to three Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships (1977, ’78 and ’87) and seven division championships. The Rams had consecutive undefeated regular seasons in 1977 and ’78. Hayes posted an 89-40-2 record in Winston-Salem, leaving the university as its all-time winningest coach.

In 1988, Hayes headed east to Aggieland, where his legendary status grew. In 15 seasons as the Aggies’ head man, Hayes won the program three black college national championships, including in 1999 when he led the Aggies to an 11-2 record, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship, and the program’s first and only NCAA Division I-FCS (or I-AA) playoff win in history, a 24-10 victory over the No. 1 team in the nation, the Tennessee State Tigers.

Hayes won three MEAC titles (1991, ’92, ’99) at A&T, made two NCAA Division I-FCS playoff appearances, and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 106-64-0 record. Hayes served as a collegiate head coach for 27 seasons, compiling a 195-104-2 record while winning six conference championships. His 195 wins are the most by any collegiate coach coaching exclusively at a North Carolina institution.

ROD BROADWAY

Broadway began his coaching career soon after graduating from the University of North Carolina, becoming East Carolina’s defensive line coach in 1979. He later became the defensive line coach at the University of Florida in 1995, where he helped the Gators win the 1996 national championship under head coach Steve Spurrier.

He earned his first head coaching position in 2003 at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), leading the Eagles to back-to-back CIAA titles in 2005 and ’06. The Eagles made consecutive NCAA Division II playoff appearances and won back-to-back black college national championships over those same two seasons.

In four seasons in Durham, Broadway went 33-11 and won the CIAA West Division three straight seasons (2004-06). His next stop was at Grambling State University, where he spent another four seasons (2007-10), winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title and a black college national championship in 2008 and the SWAC West Division in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Broadway posted a 35-12 record at Grambling, including a 28-4 record in the SWAC.

After his stop at Grambling, Broadway came to the east side of Greensboro in 2011, where he resurrected the Aggies program that was a combined 10-47 the previous five years before he arrived. Broadway went 59-22 (.729) in seven seasons at A&T before retiring in 2017. He has the best winning percentage in program history, winning two black college national championships (2015, ’17), two Celebration Bowls, and three MEAC championships (2014, ’15, ’17).

Broadway led the North Carolina A&T to a 12-0 record in 2017, making the Aggies the first Division I-FCS HBCU to go undefeated the entire season. Broadway finished his career with a 127-45 record, five black college national championships and six conference titles. He won CIAA Coach of the Year in 2006 and MEAC Coach of the Year in 2017.

VINCENT BROWN

Brown became A&T’s head coach in 2023 after a solid career as an assistant college football coach and a successful NFL career. Before his NFL career, he attended MVSU starting in 1984. Nicknamed the “Undertaker,” he was a 1987 first-team All-American, leading the NCAA in tackles in 1986 and 1987. He set the NCAA All-Divisions record with 570 career tackles. He was a two-time All-SWAC selection who led MVSU in tackles his last three seasons.

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