College Football Hall of Fame snubs Kellen Moore again. What’s the deal?
Throughout the history of awards shows, end-of-season sports honors and Hall of Fame inductions, there’s always someone who doesn’t win or gets left out — someone you can’t believe wasn’t honored.
Making the Pro Football Hall of Fame is no easy feat, which is why players such as Reggie Wayne, Jim Marshall, Torry Holt, Ken Anderson and Roger Craig still aren’t in. It took actor Leonardo DiCaprio 22 years between his first Oscar nomination and actually winning one, for “The Revenant.” Jimi Hendrix and Queen went their entire careers without winning a Grammy.
This is the kind of territory that former Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore is heading toward with the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was announced Wednesday afternoon. For the fifth straight time, Moore’s name was not added to the greats in Atlanta.
Moore was one of two people with Boise State connections nominated for the 2026 class. The other, former coach Chris Petersen, was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Petersen was the head coach at Boise State from 2006 to 2013, and he coached Moore throughout the quarterback’s entire career with the Broncos, from 2007 to 2011. Count Petersen among those who can’t believe that Moore — college football’s all-time winningest quarterback — isn’t joining him.
“In my opinion, Kellen Moore should be in the College Football Hall of Fame long before I should be in,” Petersen told the Idaho Statesman on Wednesday in a phone interview.
This isn’t simply a case of a coach propping up one of his former players. Moore is one of the best college quarterbacks in the history of the game in terms of numbers.
In his four years as a starter at Boise State, Moore went an unfathomable 50-3. He guided the Broncos to a 14-0 season in 2009, beating No. 3 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl to cap off the perfect run, and finished in the top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting for three straight years, including being named a finalist in 2010.
Even 14 years after his college career ended, Moore still ranks third in NCAA history in career passing touchdowns (142), 15th in passing efficiency (169) and 10th in passing yardage (14,667).
“The things that he did during his time as a player, as a quarterback, the most difficult position in all sports, in my opinion, is second to none,” Petersen said.
Since Moore was first eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2022, there have been 11 quarterbacks who’ve made it: Andrew Luck, Chuck Ealey, Michael Bishop, Tim Tebow, Tim Couch, Alex Smith, Armanti Edwards, Terry Hanratty, Michael Vick, Graham Harrell and, as of Wednesday afternoon, Jordan Lynch.
That isn’t to say those quarterbacks aren’t deserving, but you’re also forgiven if you haven’t heard of some of them.
Of those QBs, none of them rank among the top 50 in career college passing yards. Only Harrell (Texas Tech, 2005-08) ranks in the top 10 for passing touchdowns (134, 4th), while the next closest is Tim Tebow (Florida, 2006-09), whose 88 touchdowns rank 72nd.
And in passing efficiency, only Tebow (170.8, 13th) ranks higher than Moore. The next closest is Alex Smith, who had a career efficiency of 164.4 (25th) with Utah from 2002 to 2004.
The only quarterback to make the cut this year, Jordan Lynch (Northern Illinois, 2010-13), ended his career with 6,209 passing yards and 51 passing touchdowns, but he also rushed for 4,343 yards and 48 touchdowns.
“And so why is he not in?” Petersen questioned. “I have no idea.”
Moore, who just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, will undoubtedly be up for a spot again next year — and it’s expected that he eventually will get in. Otherwise, the more than 12,000 National Football Foundation members who vote on the College Hall of Fame might start hearing from Boise State fans asking what they are thinking.
