Will former Boise State QB Kellen Moore be on 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot?
The ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class will be announced Wednesday, and the question on the mind of every Boise State fan is whether the most successful quarterback in program history will be on it.
Kellen Moore went 50-3 at Boise State from 2008 to 2011 — setting an NCAA record for wins by a quarterback — and he became the first Bronco in any sport to win three conference player of the year awards.
The native of Prosser, Washington, was the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2009, tied former Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick for the award in 2010 and earned Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2011 — Boise State’s first season in the conference. He was also the WAC freshman of the year in 2008.
Moore’s accomplishments are well known across the college football landscape. He left Boise State with 142 career touchdown passes and 14,667 passing yards — both of which are still program records and ranked Nos. 2 and 5 in NCAA history, respectively, when his college career ended.
He still ranks No. 2 all-time in touchdown passes behind former Houston quarterback Case Keenum, who finished with 155. Moore is now No. 6 in NCAA history in career passing yards.
Moore led the Broncos to three conference championships and was the first player in program history to be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing fourth in the voting in 2010.
He wasn’t selected in the NFL Draft, but Moore signed with the Detroit Lions in 2012 as a rookie free agent. As soon as his playing career ended in 2018, he caught on with the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff — spending one year as quarterbacks coach and the past two as offensive coordinator.
Despite all of his accolades, the question remains: Does Moore qualify for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame? The answer is yes. Here’s a look at the criteria:
▪ A player must be recognized as a first-team All-American by one of five organizations: the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News, the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp. Moore was named an All-American in 2010 by FWAA, which only named one team that year. He also earned All-American nods during his career from CBS Sports, ESPN, AP and Sports Illustrated.
▪ Players become eligible for the Hall of Fame 10 full years after their final season of college football, and they must have played within the past 50 years. Coaches and players who move on to the professional ranks aren’t eligible until after they retire. Moore’s final college season was 2011.
▪ While what a player did on the field carries the most weight, their record as a citizen is also taken into consideration, and both academic honors and whether or not the player earned their degree may be taken into consideration. No issues here.
▪ Players are nominated by the current athletic director, head coach or sports information director of the college they played for or the president/executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation.
If he makes the cut, Moore will be the second Boise State player to earn a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. Former defensive lineman Randy Trautman — a key member of the Broncos’ 1980 Division 1-AA national championship team — was inducted in 1999.
The ballot for the 2022 class will include 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks.
The class is expected to be announced in early 2022. Players will be officially inducted during the 64th annual National Football Foundation awards dinner on Dec. 6, 2022, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 10:34 AM.
