DALLAS, Texas -- Archie Manning,
chairman of The National Football Foundation
& College Hall of Fame (NFF), announced
today that former University of North
Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon will be
inducted into the College Football Hall of
Fame as part of the 2008 Divisional Hall of
Fame Class.
This divisional class
includes players from the NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision (formerly I- AA),
Divisions II, III, and the NAIA (National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).
This year’s class will be inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame during the
Enshrinement Festival, July 18-19, in South
Bend, Ind.
McKinnon, a three-time consensus
All-American at North Alabama, helped lead
the Lions to three consecutive NCAA Division
II National Championships from 1993-95 and
went on to a 10-year career in the National
Football League.
In addition to McKinnon, the class of
players includes quarterback Jim Ballard of
Mount Union (1991-93), defensive end John
Randle of Texas A&M-Kingsville (1988-89) and
halfback Brad Rowland of McMurry College
(1947-50). The coaches being inducted as
part of the class are W.C. Gorden of Jackson
State, who was 119-47-5 at the school from
1976-91, and Doug Porter, who had a
166-107-5 record during his career at
Mississippi Valley State (1961-65), Howard
(1974-78) and Fort Valley State (Ga.)
(1979-85, 1987-96).
“The NFF prides itself on honoring the very
best in college football history,” said
Manning. “This year’s divisional class is no
exception, and it’s our duty to reward them
for their outstanding accomplishments on the
gridiron, earning them a spot among the
greatest to ever play or coach our sport.”
McKinnon, a native of Elba, Ala., was a
four-year starter on Lion football teams
from 1992-95 and is one of the most honored
athletes in college football history.
A four-time, first-team All-Gulf South
Conference selection, McKinnon is one of
just a handful of three-time consensus
All-Americans in NCAA Division II history.
He was selected the winner of the 1995
Harlon Hill Trophy as NCAA Division II
National Player of the Year, becoming the
first - and so far only - defensive player
to win the award. He helped lead UNA to a
combined 48-5-1 record that included three
straight GSC championships and three
straight NCAA Division II National
Championships. McKinnon closed his career as
the leading tackler in school and GSC
history with 621 total stops and 407 primary
stops. He had 29 career tackles for loss,
seven sacks, 11 interceptions and recovered
five fumbles. As a senior he had 139
tackles, 11 tackles for loss, four
interceptions and four sacks.
He was named to the Gulf South Conference
"Team of the Quarter Century" for 1971-95,
was selected the "GSC Defensive Player of
the Quarter Century" for 1971-95 and was
named to the NCAA Division II "Team of the
Quarter Century" for 1973-97. He was
selected for the 50th Anniversary UNA
Football Team for 1949-98, the Gulf South
Conference Team of the 1990s and was named
Alabama Sports Writers Association State
Professional Athlete of the Year for 1998.
McKinnon signed a free agent contract with
the Arizona Cardinals of the National
Football League following his senior season
and spent the next 10 seasons in
professional football. McKinnon played in
157 NFL games, spending nine seasons with
the Cardinals and one with the New Orleans
Saints. He finished his professional career
with more than 1,000 tackles, 12 sacks and
10 pass interceptions.
McKinnon was inducted into the Division II
Football Hall of Fame last December.
Now a business owner, McKinnon currently
resides in Bessemer, Ala., with his wife and
daughters Founded in 1947 with leadership
from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary
Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal
journalist Grantland Rice, The National
Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame,
a non-profit educational organization, runs
programs designed to use the power of
amateur football in developing scholarship,
citizenship and athletic achievement in
young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000
members nationwide, NFF programs include the
College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend,
Ind., the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Play
It Smart, and scholarships of over $1
million for college and high school scholar-
athletes.
The NFF presents the
MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy,
presented by HealthSouth, and releases the
Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.
Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.
CRITERIA
1. First and Foremost, a player must have
received First Team All-America recognition
by a selector organization that is
recognized by the NCAA and utilized to
comprise their consensus All-America teams.
2. A player becomes eligible for
consideration by the Foundation’s Honors
Courts ten years after his final year of
intercollegiate football played.
3. While each nominee’s football
achievements in college are of prime
consideration, his post football record as a
citizen is also weighed. He must have proven
himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the
ideals of football forward into his
relations with his community and his fellow
man with love of his country. Consideration
may also be given for academic honors and
whether or not the candidate earned a
college degree.
4. Players must have played their last year
of intercollegiate football within the last
50 years*. For example,
to be eligible for the 2008 ballot, the
player must have played his last year in
1958 or thereafter. In
addition,
players who are playing professionally and
coaches who are coaching on the professional
level are not eligible until after they
retire.
5. A coach becomes eligible three years
after retirement or immediately following
retirement provided he is at least 70 years
of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75
years of age. He must have been a head coach
for a minimum of 10 years and coached at
least 100 games with a .600 winning
percentage*.
*Players that do not comply with the 50-year
rule and coaches that have not won 60% of
their games may still be eligible for
consideration by the Football Bowl
Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and
Divisional Honors Review Committees, which
examine unique cases.
INDUCTEE BIOGRAPHIES
JIM BALLARD
MOUNT UNION COLLEGE (Ohio)
Quarterback (1991-93)
After transferring from Wilmington College
(Ohio), Jim Ballard broke numerous school,
conference and NCAA records en route to
leading Mount Union to its first-ever
Division III National Championship in 1993.
A two-time First Team All-America pick in
1992 and ’93, Ballard broke 17 Division III
records and threw for over 12,000 yards and
over 150 touchdowns. The two-time recipient
of the Mike Gregory Award, which is given to
the Ohio Athletic Conference’s top offensive
back, he was a two-time All-Conference
selection and suffered only one OAC loss
during his prolific career. Ballard won the
inaugural Melberger Award as Division III’s
Player of the Year and owned every Mount
Union passing record by career’s end.
The Ohio native played in the NFL, Canadian
Football League and the Arena Football
League during his 10- year professional
career and led the Scottish Claymores to an
NFL Europe World Bowl title in 1996.
Inducted into the Scottish Claymores Hall of
Fame in 2001, Ballard currently serves as
the commissioner of the Continental Indoor
Football League in North Canton, Ohio.
RONALD McKINNON
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA
Linebacker (1992-95)
The only defensive player to ever win the
Harlon Hill Trophy in the 22 years of the
award, Ronald McKinnon led the University of
North Alabama to three straight Division II
National Championships during his record-
breaking career.
A three-time consensus First Team
All-America, McKinnon was a four-time First
Team All-Gulf South Conference pick and led
the Lions to three consecutive GSC
championships. Named the conference’s Player
of the Quarter Century (1971-95), the Elba,
Alabama, native led UNA to four straight
Division II playoff appearances. He also
holds school records for career tackles
(621) and season tackles (175).
McKinnon played ten seasons in the NFL, nine
as a starter for the Arizona Cardinals, and
finished his career with the New Orleans
Saints. He was heavily involved in community
service activities with the Cardinals and
conducted numerous free youth football
clinics in Arizona and Alabama while in the
league.
A member of the Division II Team of the
Quarter Century, McKinnon owns several small
businesses and resides in Bessemer, Ala.
JOHN RANDLE
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY – KINGSVILLE
(formerly Texas A&I University)
Defensive End (1988-89)
A defensive phenom, John Randle punished
opposing offenses during his successful
collegiate and pro careers.
Selected as a First Team All-America in
1988, Randle was twice named the Lone Star
Conference’s Lineman of the Year. The
Hearne, Texas, native amassed 105 tackles
and 34 career sacks en route to leading the
Javelinas to back-to-back conference
championships in 1988 and ’89 and two trips
to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Starting
his college playing career at Trinity Valley
Community College in Athens, Texas, Randle
led a defense that allowed an average of
only eight points per game during his senior
campaign.
Randle played 14 years in the NFL with the
Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks.
Named an All- Pro seven times, he recorded
double-digit sacks during eight different
seasons, including a career-high and
league-leading 15.5 sacks in 1997. He
retired as the league’s all-time leader in
sacks by a defensive tackle (137.5).
A member of the Lone Star Conference Team of
the Decade for the 1980s and a 2006 inductee
into the Division II Football Hall of Fame,
Randle resides in Medina, Minn.
BRAD ROWLAND
McMURRY COLLEGE (Texas)
Halfback (1947-50)
Recognized as the first small-college player
to start in the East-West Shrine Game, Brad
Rowland has held
six school records for more than a half a
century and is a selection from the NFF
Honors Review
Committee*.
A two-time First Team All-America, Rowland
held 16 school records by career’s end,
including career
rushing
yards (4,437), single-season rushing yards
(1,249) and career total offense (5,200).
The four-time All-
Conference selection led the league in
rushing each of his four years at McMurry
and was a member of
three
Texas Conference championship teams. Rowland
was also honored by Who’s Who Among American
College
and University Students for his academic
success.
The Hamlin, Texas, native played one season
with the Chicago Bears before serving in the
U.S. Army from
1952-53. He later worked in agribusiness for
forty years.
Rowland has served as the national vice
president of the Jaycees and as president of
the Distribution
Companies of America. He resides in Lombard,
Ill.
* The Honors Review Committee examines
unique cases, including players that do not
comply with the 50-
year rule and coaches that have not won 60%
of their games, for induction into the
College Football Hall of
Fame. These candidates are not listed on the
NFF’s National Ballot.
COACH W.C. GORDEN
JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY (1976-91)
119-47-5
As the winningest coach in Jackson State
history, W.C. Gorden established himself as
one of the most
successful mentors in Football Championship
Subdivision annals during his 15-year head
coaching career.
During the Gorden era, the Tigers won eight
Southwest Athletic Conference titles; made
nine trips to the
NCAA playoffs; and won a SWAC-record 28
consecutive conference games from 1985-89.
JSU also led
the
Football Championship Subdivision (formerly
Division I-AA) in game attendance seven
times under
Gorden’s
watch. In 1985, he coached the SWAC
all-stars to a 16-14 victory over the
Mideastern Athletic Conference
(MEAC) team in the third annual Freedom
Bowl.
Named conference Coach of the Year six
times, Gorden was a 1994 inductee into the
SWAC Hall of Fame.
The Nashville, Tenn., native was inducted
into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in
1997 and was the
1997
recipient of the Capital City Classic
Humanitarian Award.
After retiring from coaching at JSU, he
served as the university’s athletics
director for two years and has
since become actively involved in community
service and governmental affairs. Currently
a motivational
speaker, Gorden resides in Jackson, Miss.
COACH DOUG PORTER
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
(1961-65), HOWARD UNIVERSITY (1974-78),
FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY (Ga.) (1979-85,
1987-96)
166-107-5
A fixture in historically black college
athletics, Doug Porter forged an indelible
coaching and administrative
career for more than fifty years.
In 1961, Porter accepted his first head
coaching job at Mississippi Valley State,
where he turned around a
program that had not had a winning season in
five years before his third season in 1963.
He then served as
Eddie Robinson’s assistant at Grambling
State for nine seasons and later took the
helm at Howard from
1974-78. After Fort Valley State hired him
in 1979, it took Porter only one season to
lead the Wildcats to a
conference title. He led his teams to six
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
titles and two NCAA
playoff appearances. He boasts only five
losing seasons in 26 years as a head coach.
The Memphis, Tenn., native and seven-time
SIAC Coach of the Year served as Fort
Valley’s athletics
director for 16 years. He also acted as
chairman of the Division II Football
Committee and as president of
the
National Athletic Steering Committee.
Porter returned to Grambling in 1997,
becoming an advisor to former GSU coaches
Doug Williams (a 2001
player inductee into the College Football
Hall of Fame) and Melvin Spears and current
coach Rod
Broadway.
Porter currently assists in the efforts to
establish a museum in Hall of Fame Coach
Eddie Robinson’s
honor.
