Tennessee wide receiver/kick returner Willie Gault and safety Deon Grant, as well as Vols coach Josh Heupel, are on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot.
The National Football Foundation announced the 227 candidates for the 2027 class on June 1. The ballot includes 80 players and nine coaches from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 39 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks.
More than 12,000 NFF members and current NFF Hall of Famers will vote. Those will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF Honors Court, which ultimately select the class. The College Football Hall of Fame class will be announced in early 2027.
Tennessee touts 27 members of the College Football Hall of Fame, including 23 players and four coaches. Gault and Grant are vying to add to that list.
Heupel is a candidate as an Oklahoma player. In 2000, he led the Sooners to a national title a a star quarterback. He was the Big 12 Player of the Year, Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
Gault was first team All-America in 1982. He broke six SEC and 12 school records as a punt and kick returner. And he tied an NCAA record with three touchdowns on kick returns in a single season in 1980. He led the Vols to three bowl appearances.
Grant was a consensus first team All-American, the 1999 AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year and finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He also led the SEC with nine interceptions in 1999. Grant was a key player on Tennessee’s 1998 national title team, along with two SEC titles and three top-10 finishes.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee’s Willie Gault, Deon Grant on College Football Hall of Fame ballot