College Hall of Fame
National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in Atlanta—
ESTABLISHED IN 1947
Penn State has 26 CHOF members who were elected directly for their playing (21) or coaching (5) success with the Nittany Lions.
(State also recognizes 1 additional CHOF member coach elected for his playing success at another school)
Enshrinement Class of 1951—Bill Hollenback Penn State Head Coach 1909, 1911-1914 (Hollenback is the first with ties to the Nittany Lions to be elected to the NFF CHOF, but he was actually honored for his playing career at the University of Pennsylvania as a FB/HB/End in 1904, 1906-1908)
Enshrinement Class of 1954—Hugo Bezdek Penn State Head Coach 1918-1929, Dick Harlow Penn State Head Coach 1915-1917 (was also a PS Lineman 1909-1911), & Bob Higgins Penn State Head Coach 1930-1948 (was also a PS End who played for Hollenback, Harlow & Bezdek 1914-16, 1919). This class includes the first to be elected based, in part, on careers associated with Penn State.
Enshrinement Class of 1957—Pete Mauthe FB/HB 1909-1912 (was first Penn State player elected as a player)
Enshrinement Class of 1971—Glenn Killinger QB/HB 1918-1921 (was also an assistant coach at Penn State)
Enshrinement Class of 1973—Rip Engle Penn State Head Coach 1950-1965 & “Light Horse” Harry Wilson HB 1921-1923 (Wilson later played at West Point during his 4 years there which was permissible in this era)
Enshrinement Class of 1974—Shorty Miller QB 1910-1913
Enshrinement Class of 1976—Dexter Very End 1909-1912
Enshrinement Class of 1985—Steve Suhey Guard 1942, 1946-1947
Enshrinement Class of 1986—Richie Lucas QB 1957-1959
Enshrinement Class of 1987—Mike Reid DT 1966, 1968-1969
Enshrinement Class of 1989—Ted Kwalick TE 1966-1968
Enshrinement Class of 1990—Jack Ham LB 1968-1970
Enshrinement Class of 1993—John Cappelletti TB 1971-1973
Enshrinement Class of 1995—Dennis Onkotz LB 1967-1969
Enshrinement Class of 1997—Dave Robinson End 1960-1962
Enshrinement Class of 2001—Glenn Ressler Center 1962-1964
Enshrinement Class of 2004—Lydell Mitchell TB 1969-1971
Enshrinement Class of 2005—Keith Dorney OT 1975-1978
Enshrinement Class of 2007—Joe Paterno Penn State Head Coach 1966-2011
Enshrinement Class of 2009—Curt Warner TB 1979-1982
Enshrinement Class of 2014—Shane Conlan LB 1982-1986
Enshrinement Class of 2018—Kerry Collins QB 1990-1994
Enshrinement Class of 2022—LaVar Arrington LB 1997-1999
Enshrinement Class of 2024—Paul Posluszny LB 2003-2006
PSU Candidates for the Class of 2026 (announced June 2, 2025)—Ki-Jana Carter RB 1991-94 & Courtney Brown DE 1996-99 are among 79 persons on the full CHOF ballot. This is Carter’s 4th straight year under consideration.
Nittany Notes:
Dick Harlow who played for Penn State (1909-1911) and was later the Head Coach of the Nittany Lions (1915-1917) was elected to the NFF CHOF as a coach. That said, Harlow (149-69-17 all-time) was clearly honored for his overall 27-year body of work as the head coach at three other schools and not just for his time at Penn State (Colgate 1922-25, Western Maryland 1926-34, & Harvard 1935-42, 1945-47). Although Harlow was 20-8 in his 3 seasons with the Nittany Lions, and his 1916 team was the highest scoring offense in Penn State history prior to Joe Paterno.
Interestingly, Harlow coached future Penn State Head Coach and Hall of Famer, Rip Engle, at Western Maryland in 1929 when that team went 11-0. Harlow had been a teammate of Rip’s uncle, Lloyd “Dad” Engle at State.
Penn State Hall of Fame Head Coaches Hugo Bezdek (1918-1929) & Rip Engle (1950-1965) were also successful head coaches at other schools prior to arriving in State College. Bezdek spent time with Arkansas and Oregon while Engle led Brown where he coached Joe Paterno prior to landing in State College.