NFF Release
Irving, TX - Wagner College Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and former head football coach Walt Hameline was named to the 2025 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame announced.
This year's ballot includes 77 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 101 players and 34 coaches from the divisional ranks.
"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.
Hameline completed his 34th season on November 22, 2014 as the Seahawks posted a riveting 23-20 win at Bryant, giving the Green & white a 7-4-record and a share of the 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season title at 5-1, Wagner's second league crown in the last three years.
During his marvelous 34-year coaching career, Hameline amassed an all-time record of 223-139-2 (.615) on Grymes Hill. At the conclusion of the 2014 regular season, those 223 victories ranked fifth among active head Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) head coaches.
In 2014, Hameline was honored by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers and USA College Football at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet at MetLife Stadium. On this night, Hameline received the FCS Bob Ford Award, named for the man who guided a highly-successful University at Albany program from 1970 to 2013. Established in 2012, the Bob Ford Award honors Legendary FCS coaches who have recently retired from the sidelines.
In a stirring ceremony prior to kickoff of the September 15, 2012, Wagner vs. Monmouth game, the field at Wagner College Stadium was named Hameline Field in honor of his long-time success at the helm of the Seahawk gridiron program.
November 6, 2010 was another historic day in Hameline's career, another that also involved Monmouth, as the Seahawks' 31-20 win over the Hawks marked career victory number 200.
In 2012, Hameline, who has coached more than 100 All-Americans and nearly 100 All-NEC players, led the Seahawks to their first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) Football Championship with a thrilling 23-17 come-from-behind victory over Duquesne on November 17, 2012, while clinching a berth in the 2012 Division I FCS Playoffs. The win personified the Green & White's exhilarating season. Wagner began the season with three straight losses, before winning its next nine games.
In defying the odds throughout its triumphant march to the school's first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) title and the conference's first-ever NCAA FCS win, Wagner compiled a 9-4 record, including a 7-1 mark in the NEC. The Seahawks finished the season ranked 21st in The Sports Network Final Top-25 Poll and 22nd in the Final FCS Coaches Poll, an achievement that marked the first time an NEC team has ended the season with an appearance in both official Top-25 polls.
The accolades soon began to pour in for Hameline. After being named the 2012 NEC Football Coach of the year, he was tabbed the 2012 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National Coach of the Year by both College Football News (CFN) and the College Sports Journal (CSJ). Hameline was also named as one of the 20 nominees for the Eddie Robinson Award, which since 1987 has been awarded annually to college football's top head coach in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Shortly after receiving the news of his twin National Coach of the Year honors, Hameline was inducted into the New Jersey Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame
Prior to the momentous 2012 season, Hameline's overall coaching ledger included five ECAC Titles and three NCAA Tournament Appearances, highlighted by 1987 NCAA Division III National Championship. In the magical Championship Season of 1987, Wagner posted a 19-3 win over heavily-favored Dayton in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl to earn the NCAA Division III National Championship. Against one of the toughest schedules in the nation, Hameline's Seahawks rolled to a 13-1 record, winning more games than any college football team in any division in America.
The team earned the school's second Lambert Trophy, symbolic of football superiority in the East among Division III schools, and ECAC Team of the Year recognition. Following the season, in addition to Sports Illustrated writing a feature story, a host of national and regional organizations recognized Hameline, highlighted by him being named the Chevrolet National Coach of the Year. In 1990, just three years after winning the school's only National Championship, Hameline became the winningest coach in school history.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship, and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters in 47 states, NFF programs include the criteria, selection and induction of members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta; Future For Football; The William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Awards presented by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation & Hatchell Cup presented by the Original Bob's Steak & Chop House; and a series of programs and initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Bruin Capital, Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Hampshire Companies, Hanold Associates Executive Search, Jostens, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses and Sports Business Journal. Follow the NFF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.
