Jim Tressel selected to Hall of Fame

DALLAS -- Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and Kansas State coach Bill Snyder have been selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The National Football Foundation announced the latest Hall of Fame class of 15 players and two coaches Friday.

Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams of Texas and Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth were also selected.

Tressel was 106-22 in 10 seasons as coach of Ohio State, including a national championship in 2002. He was forced to resign after the 2010 season after he withheld information from the school and NCAA about possible violations by some of his players, who traded memorabilia and equipment for tattoos. The NCAA imposed a five-year show cause order on Tressel that would open up a school to possible sanctions if it hired him as a coach. That order ends in September 2016.

"I am forever indebted to the outstanding student-athletes and coaches that have made this moment possible," Tressel said in a statement released through Youngstown State, where he is now the university president.

Tressel's father, who went 155-52-6 at Baldwin-Wallace from 1958 through 1973, was inducted in 1996.

"To join the same Hall of Fame that my father, Dr. Lee J. Tressel, is already a member, is so, so meaningful," Tressel said.

Tressel also coached 15 seasons at Youngstown State, winning four Division I-AA national titles. He is the only coach to win national championship at both levels of Division I. He was named president of Youngstown State on May 9, 2014.

Snyder orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history at Kansas State, which had lost more football games than any program when he took over in 1989. He turned the Wildcats into a Big 12 power and a national title contender with seven double-digit victory seasons in a span of nine years.

He retired after the 2005 season, but returned in 2009 and has not had a losing season since. In 23 seasons with Kansas State, Snyder is 187-94-1. He was eligible for induction while still active because he turned 75 last year.

Williams won the Heisman in 1998 and left Texas as the leading career rusher in FBS with 6,279 yards. He currently ranks second behind Wisconsin's Ron Dayne.

Bosworth was a two-time Butkus Award winner (1985 and 1986) as the nation's best linebacker, helping the Sooners win three straight Big Eight titles and the 1985 national title. He was also one of the most controversial characters in college football history. He billed himself as The Boz, wore his hair in Mohawk style and was an outspoken critic of the NCAA.

He was suspended from what would have been his last college game -- the 1987 Orange Bowl -- for failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. Standing on the sideline during that game against Arkansas in Miami, Bosworth wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "National Communists Against Athletes."

He later co-authored a tell-all book that accused Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer of running a program plagued by drug use and misbehavior by players.

The other players selected by the NFF to the Hall of Fame were:

Nebraska linebacker Trev Alberts

Arizona State linebacker Bob Breunig

Millsaps defensive end Sean Brewer from Division III

Pittsburgh offensive tackle Rugen Brown

Florida split end Wes Chandler

Notre Dame split end Thom Gatewood

Yale running back Dick Jauron

Michigan state halfback Clinton Jones

Washington offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy

Michigan running back Rob Lytle

Marshall quarterback Michael Payton

Texas Tech linebacker Zach Thomas

Kentucky defensive lineman Art Still

The latest Hall of Fame class will be inducted Dec. 8 at the NFF's awards dinner in New York.