ATLANTA — For a stretch of time, their career paths intersected in the state of Georgia. One at the University of Georgia and one at Georgia Tech.
Former UGA football coach Mark Richt and former Tech football coach Paul Johnson lead an extensive list of nominees for the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame.
In fact, you could easily say the state of Georgia, is very well represented.
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Johnson led not one but two programs within the state. From 1997 through 2001, he was in charge of the then offensively proficient Georgia Southern Eagles.
After five seasons in Annapolis, Maryland, at the U.S. Naval Academy, Johnson returned to Georgia and led Georgia Tech to one of its most successful runs in recent memory. Johnson led the Yellow Jackets from 2008 through 2018 before retiring. Johnson won two national titles at Georgia Southern, five-straight Commander-in-Chief’s trophies at Navy and was the ACC Coach of the Year while at Georgia Tech.
Richt’s first head coaching job was in Athens at the University of Georgia and he led the team from 2001 to 2015. He won 75% of his games while in Athens, including leading the Bulldogs to five SEC title games, 15-straight bowl games and finished in the top 10 nationally eight times. He was let go in Athens after the 2015 season and just two years later he won the Walter Camp Coach-of-the-Year award after taking over at his alma mater at the University of Miami.
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Some of the local players on the 2023 ballot include:
- Creekside High School graduate Eric Berry. Berry, defensive safety, was a two-time All-American at the University of Tennessee. He was the 2008 SEC Defensive player of the year and a three-time All-SEC choice. He is the conference’s all-time leader in interception return yardage and single-season interception return yardage. Berry played in the NFL for nine seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Griffin High School graduate Willie Gault. Gault, a wide receiver and Olympic Sprinter, was a 1982 selection as a First Team All-American while at the University of Tennessee. He set six conference and 12 school punt and kickoff return records while in Knoxville. In 1980, Gault tied an NCAA record for most kick return touchdowns in one season with three. Gault was in the NFL for 11 years, eight with the Chicago Bears and three with the Raiders.
- Lincoln County’s own Garrison Hearst was a star running back in the early 1990′s at the University of Georgia. Hearst was a First Team All-American and won the Doak Walker Award in 1992. The same year, Hearst finished third in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy. That year he led the nation in scoring with 126 points. Hearst was successful for 12 years in the NFL despite missing two full seasons with injuries.
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Other noteworthy players from the past 20 years include: former USC star Reggie Bush, former Kentucky QB Tim Couch, former Florida State RB and Atlanta Falcons star Warrick Dunn, former California and Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez, former Miami LB Ray Lewis, former New Mexico and Falcons WR Terrance Mathis and former Florida QB Tim Tebow.
Along with Johnson and Richt, former Georgia Tech head coach Ralph Friedgen. Friedgen was the Yellow Jackets head coach from 1997 to 2000 before running the program at Maryland from 2001 to 2010.
The College Football Hall of Fame, which is based in downtown Atlanta, will announce the players and coaches selected from their expansive ballot sometime in early 2023 with an awards ceremony planned for later that year.
For a full list of everyone on the ballot, you can go to the Hall of Fame’s website for more.
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