Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno Elected to College Football Hall of Fame

May 16, 2006 — -- Legendary coaches Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, No. 1 and No. 2 respectively on the all-time Division I-A coaching victories list, were elected into the College Football Hall of Fame today.

The 76-year-old Bowden, who has coached at Samford (1959-62), West Virginia (1970-75) and Florida State (1976-present), leads Div. 1 college coaches with 359 victories. Paterno, who has coached Penn State since 1966, is second with 354 wins.

Bowden's Florida State teams have won two national championships, in 1993 and 1999, and he has 19 bowl victories as a coach, second only to Paterno (21). Paterno, who will turn 80 in December, has coached Penn State to two national championships, in 1982 and 1986. He also coached teams in 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1994 that finished undefeated, but didn't win the national title.

In addition to Bowden and Paterno, 13 players were also elected to the Hall of Fame, headlined by Heisman Trophy winners Charlie Ward (Florida State, 1993) and Mike Rozier (Nebraska, 1983). Former Seminoles quarterback Ward guided Florida State to its first national title in 1993 and set the school record for touchdowns in a season with 27. Former Huskers running back Rozier rushed for 2,148 yards in 1983 and is the career rushing leader at the school with 4,780 yards in three seasons.

Florida's Emmitt Smith, who became the NFL's career rushing leader, and Virginia Tech's Bruce Smith, the NFL's all-time sacks leader, are both going into the college Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

The rest of the class is Colorado running back Bobby Anderson, Miami safety Bennie Blades, Minnesota defensive tackle Carl Eller, Washington defensive lineman Steve Emtman, Baylor safety Thomas Everett, Air Force defensive lineman Chad Hennings, Tennessee guard Chip Kell, Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps and Stanford linebacker Jeff Siemon.

They will be inducted by the National Football Foundation in New York in December and enshrined at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., in the summer of 2007.