Chuck Ealey, Gary Pinkel to be inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

TOLEDO, Ohio — Two former Toledo Rockets will be inducted into the 2022 class of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Former quarterback Chuck Ealey and former head coach Gary Pinkel were listed along with 19 other inductees.

They were elected from a national ballot of 78 players and seven coaches for from the Football Bowl Subdivision as well as 99 players and 33 coaches from divisional ranks and NFF Veterans Committee candidates.

Ealey won every game in his three seasons from 1969-1971, the last of which he served as team captain. He then signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts before founding the Chuck Ealey Foundation featuring the Undefeated Spirit Award.

Pinkel is the record leader with 73 victories from 1991-2000. He will be recognized as both a Rocket and a Missouri Tiger who retired from coaching in 2015.

Former defensive lineman Mel Long was honored in the Hall of Fame in 1998. He was a teammate with Ealey on the undefeated Rocket teams from 1969-71.

The class is scheduled to be inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6.