Football | 6/5/2024 4:11:00 PM

IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the names on the 2025 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Former Bloomsburg football legend Jahri Evans remains on the ballot while recent Husky standout, Franklyn Quiteh, is on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.
 
"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."
 
Recently, former head coach Danny Hale was announced as one of the newest members of the College Football Hall of Fame and is set to be inducted this summer and honored during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on December 10, 2024.
 
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. 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.
 
Of the 5.7 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,093 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game during the past 154 seasons. From the coaching ranks, 233 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.
 
Bloomsburg's two active nominees – Jahri Evans and Franklyn Quiteh – were coached by Hale during his illustrious career.
 

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JAHRI EVANS
Evans joins the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for the sixth consecutive year.
 
Evans took over as a full-time starter on the Huskies' offensive line in 2003, but in 2004, the awards started rolling in for the left tackle. He was an AFCA First Team All-American as a junior while earning Second Team All-American honors from the Associated Press and Don Hansen Football Gazette. Then, as a senior in 2005, Evans helped the Huskies to an average of 284.3 rushing yards per game – the eighth-most in the country. He went on to earn First Team All-American honors from five different organizations – the AFCA, Daktronics, Don Hansen Football Gazette, Associated Press, and D2Football.com. He was also a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, which honors the nation's top lineman in Division II in his last two seasons.
He earned the Danny Litwhiler Award as Bloomsburg's Male Underclass Athlete of the Year in 2005 and the Robert B. Redman Award as Bloomsburg's Male Senior Athlete of the Year in 2006.
 
Evans was then selected in the fourth round (108th overall) by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 NFL Draft, becoming the first Huskies player chosen in the draft since 1992. He was selected to six Pro Bowls and was named a First-Team All-Pro in four consecutive seasons from 2009 to 2012. Among Saints' offensive linemen, his six Pro Bowl appearances rank second all-time in team history. He also ranks second all-time in Saints' history with 169 career games. He helped the Saints finish in the top six in the league in total offense in all 11 seasons (2006-2016), including six number-one rankings. He also helped New Orleans finish in the top ten in scoring in nine of his 11 seasons, including number-one rankings in 2008 and 2009.
Evans was named to his first Pro Bowl and earned First-Team All-Pro recognition for the first time in 2009 – a season that was capped off with the Saints' victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. In 2020, he was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team (2010-19).
 
He was inducted into the Bloomsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018. He is among the inductees in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame class of 2022.

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Franklyn Quiteh
Quiteh, a 2013 graduate of Bloomsburg, is on the ballot for the first time and earned the distinction in his first year of eligibility.
 
From the NFF voting procedure, "The National Football Foundation staff will screen each candidate. After ascertaining that the nomination satisfies all requirements, FBS nominees are submitted to the District Screening Committee (DSC) nearest to the institution where the nominee played. New nominees as well as individuals who appeared on the previous year's ballot will be included in this process each year.

Only the top vote-getters (approx. 60 players) from the DSC are forwarded to the National Football Foundation staff for inclusion on the ballot. The ballot also carries names of candidates held over from the previous year. These carryover names are referred to as "automatic holdovers" and are decided upon by the Honors Court. Please note: even though your player is nominated, his name WILL NOT appear on the national ballot if he does not first pass through the DSC."
 
Franklyn Quiteh graduated as the most decorated running back and one of the most decorated student-athletes in Bloomsburg football history. He was the top back in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and NCAA DII during his four years as a Husky.
 
Quiteh's career culminated in receiving the Harlon Hill Award following his 2013 campaign, and he finished third in the vote following the 2012 season. The Harlon Hill represents the top player in the nation in DII football. In 2013, Quiteh led the country in yards rushing (2,195), rushing touchdowns (29), scoring (15.7 ppg), and yards per carry (8.3). He moved into second place all-time in Division II history with 7,523 rushing yards, easily surpassing the former PSAC career record. Quiteh holds 13 school records, five conference records, and two NCAA records after becoming the only player in D-II history to top 2,000 yards rushing three times. During his career, he also broke the NCAA record for most games with 100 or more yards rushing with 42.
Quiteh has 14 All-America honors, including 13 First Team nods between Daktronics, AP, D2Football.com, and Don Hensen's team from 2010-2013.
 
At the time of his graduation, Quiteh was the NCAA active leader among all divisions in career rushing yards, rushing yards per game (160.2), all-purpose yards (7,964), rushing touchdowns (87), total touchdowns (91), and total points (548) and was the DII leader in points per game (11.7).
 
Quiteh still holds the DII record for most 100-yard rushing games by a freshman (12 in 2010), most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (12), most seasons with 1,000+ rushing yards (4), and most seasons with 2,000+ rushing yards, and is still the only DII player with three. His 2,195 yards during the 2013 season still rank 14th all-time in DII, and he was the NCAA statistical champion in rushing yards three times – 2010, 2012, and 2013. His career 548 points rank sixth all-time in DII, and he was the NCAA statistical champion with 188 points in 2013. Quiteh is seventh all-time in DII with 7,964 all-purpose yards.
 
During the 2013 season, the Huskies were ranked as high as No. 5 in the AFCA top-25 poll, won their first PSAC championship in 2013 since 1985, and ranked fifth in DII in team rushing offense, averaging 317.6 yards per game on the ground. The Huskies surpassed the previous school record of 315.8, set in 2012 behind Quiteh's leadership. The Huskies broke the school record for games with over 350 yards rushing as a team in a single season, accomplishing the feat six times. Bloomsburg has surpassed 350 yards rushing as a team vs. Stonehill (457), Lock Haven (409), East Stroudsburg (389), Edinboro (383), Slippery Rock (360), and Gannon (351) in 2013.
 
In his four years on the gridiron, the Huskies went 39-9, were the PSAC East champion twice, and advanced to the NCAA DII national tournament three times.
 
The announcement of the 2025 NFF Hall of Fame Class will be made in early February of 2025.