Ken Dorsey is finally getting his due as a candidate on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2021 and two other former Miami Hurricanes are again up for consideration, but Howard Schnellenberger was snubbed yet again.
Dorsey, who played quarterback for Miami from 1999-2002 and was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, is a new addition to the ballot and one of 78 FBS players in consideration for the Hall of Fame's 2021 class.
Ray Lewis and Dan Morgan, two of the most accomplished linebackers in Hurricanes history, are also on the ballot after missing the cut for the Hall in recent years. Members of the National Football Federation will now vote on who makes the cut for the class, which will be announced in early 2021.
"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.4 million people have played college football and only 1,027 players have been inducted," National Football Federation president Steve Hatchell said in a statement.
Noticeably absent once again in Schenellenberger, the original architect of Miami's 1980s dynasty.
Schnellenberger, who led the Hurricanes in the 1970s to the 1983 national championship, only had a 51.1 career winning percentage, but his record was largely hurt by losing stints with the Louisville Cardinals and FAU Owls.
At Louisville, Schnellenberger was tasked with turning around a moribund program and eventually led the Cardinals to their first 10-win season.
At FAU, Schnellenberger started a program from scratch as the director of football operations and coach, and led the Owls to a bowl win in just their third season of existence _ the fastest a team has ever won a bowl game.
Since 1990, the College Football Hall of Fame has required coaches to have won 60% of their games to receive consideration, although supporters have annually pleaded with the Hall of Fame to make an exception for Schnellenberger, who laid the foundation for MIami to win four national championships in nine years from 1983-1991.
The three former Hurricanes on the ballot, however, are three of the greatest to ever play for the storied program. Dorsey is the winningest quarterback in Miami history and led the Hurricanes to the 2001 national championship.
Now the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills, Dorsey finished his career as Miami's all-time leader in passing yards and he's still the Hurricanes' all-time leader in passing touchdowns. In 2001, he won the Maxwell Award as the nation's top offensive player and finished third in Heisman voting. He's on the ballot for the first time.
Lewis, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, has been on the ballot since 2014. His two full seasons as a starter were two of the best in Hurricanes history. In 1994, he logged 152 tackles and was a first-team All-American. In 1995, he was even better, logging 160 tackles and earning a first-team All-America nod again. He's still sixth all-time in tackles at Miami, and his 1994 and 1995 seasons are still the top two seasons in program history, in terms of total tackles.
Morgan, who has been on the ballot since 2018, is the Hurricanes' all-time leader with 532 tackles and his 150 tackles in 1998 are the third most in a single season in Miami history. In 2000, the linebacker became the first player in college football history to win the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker, and the Bronco Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player. He was a first-team All-American.
The Hurricanes have eights players and 12 overall representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame. Former safety Ed Red, now Miami's chief of staff, was the most recent player to be inducted in the Class of 2018. Former coach Dennis Erickson was also inducted in the Class of 2019.
The rest of Miami's players in the Hall of Fame: Former quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde, Gino Toretta and Arnold Tucker, former defensive tackle Russell Maryland, former safety Bennie Blades, former fullback Don Bosseler and former defensive end Ted Hendricks. The three other former Hurricanes coaches in the Hall are Jimmy Johnson, Andy Gustafson and Jack Harding.
