Josh Heupel, former Tennessee greats on 2022 ballot for College Football Hall of Fame

Willie Gault, Eric Berry and Larry Seivers are the Tennessee greats selected.

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot has been released, and four names with Tennessee connections are on the list.

Electrifying ex-Vols wide receiver and kick returner Willie Gault, former hard-hitting Tennessee safety Eric Berry, and notable former UT wideout Larry Seivers cracked the ballot because of their incredible careers in Knoxville.

Current Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, meanwhile, was nominated because of his time as a championship-winning quarterback at Oklahoma.

The full ballot of nominees will be honored at the National Football Foundation’s 63rd Annual Awards Dinner, which will take place on December 7, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

To be considered for Hall of Fame nomination, a player must meet several different criteria listed by the National Football Foundation:

• 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 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 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.

• Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years*. For example, to be eligible for the 2022 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1972 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.

As far as Tennessee’s selections, fans undoubtedly remember Gault’s awe-inspiring runs, Berry’s bone-jarring hits (and incredible interceptions), and Seivers’ leaping grabs. Their collegiate achievements are listed below, as described by the National Football Foundation in Wednesday’s announcement.

Gault: 1982 First Team All-American ... Led Vols to three bowl berths ... Set six conference and 12 school punt/kickoff return records ... Tied NCAA record for most touchdowns by kick return in a single season (3) in 1980.

Seivers: Two-time consensus First Team All-American in 1975 and 1976 ... Two-time First Team All-SEC selection ... Currently ranks sixth in Tennessee history in career reception yardage (1,924) and seventh in career receptions (117).

Berry: Two-time unanimous First Team All-American (2008-09) and winner of the 2009 Thorpe Award ... 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-SEC selection ... SEC’s all-time leader in career INT return yards (494) and single-season INT return yards (265 in 2008).

While Berry’s hits have been chronicled by Tennessee Director of Broadcasting Bob Kesling, it is John Ward’s calls of Gault and Seivers (especially Gault’s sprint “to the state capitol”) that will stretch deepest in Tennessee lore.

For Heupel, the former Sooner earned a nomination despite only playing two years in Norman. He was named the 2000 Walter Camp Player of the Year and received First Team All-American honors, and he led Oklahoma to a national title in the 2091 Orange Bowl. The 2000 Big 12 Player of the Year left Oklahoma after shattering virtually every school passing record held at the school.