Former LSU All-America offensive guard and Pro Football Hall of Famer Alan Faneca is among 77 players from the Football Bowl Subdivision included on the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced on Monday.
In addition, former LSU head coach Nick Saban is one of nine FBS head coaches listed on the Hall of Fame ballot. Saban coached the Tigers from 2000-04, leading LSU to the 2003 national championship.
A dominating run blocker, Faneca earned first-team All-America honors and won the Jacobs Trophy as the most outstanding offensive lineman in the SEC in 1997. He anchored an LSU offensive line that helped the Tigers claim SEC rushing titles in 1996 and 1997.
Faneca also became LSU’s first finalist for the Outland Trophy in 1997 as he helped pave the way for 1,000-yard rusher Kevin Faulk. LSU led the SEC in rushing yards per game in 1997 with 256.6 yards a contest.
Faneca started 36 consecutive games for the Tigers from 1995-97, helping LSU to three consecutive bowl appearances and a 10-win season in 1996. He earned first-team All-SEC honors in 1996 and 1997 and was voted Freshman All-SEC in 1995.
In his three years with the Tigers, LSU won 26 games and finished the 1996 season ranked No. 12 followed by a No. 13 final ranking in 1997.
Following his LSU career, Faneca was selected in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went on to start 204 regular season games for three teams from 1998-2010. Faneca was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He’s also a member of the NFL Team of the Decade for the 2000s, in the Steelers Hall of Honor, won a Super Bowl, earned first-team All-Pro honors six times and appeared in the Pro Bowl nine times.
“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.”
Faneca is looking to join an elite list of LSU Tigers in the College Football Hall of Fame. Former Tigers in the College Football Hall of Fame include: Gus Tinsley, Ken Kavanaugh Sr., Abe Mickal, Doc Fenton, Tommy Casanova, Billy Cannon, Jerry Stovall, Charles Alexander, Bert Jones, Glenn Dorsey, and Kevin Faulk.
Former LSU coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame are Dana Bible, Mike Donahue, Biff Jones, Bernie Moore and Charles McClendon.
The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration include:
· First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams.
· A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation’s Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
· 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. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.
· Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2025 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1975 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.
· A coach becomes eligible three full seasons 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 football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.
· Nominations may only be submitted by the current athletics director, head coach or sports information director (SID) of a potential candidate’s collegiate institution. Nominations may also be submitted by the president/executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation.
The announcement of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2025, with specific details to be announced in the future.
The 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025 at the Bellagio Hotel & Resort, and they will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2025 season.
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