Mike Doss is the newest former Ohio State football player to be nominated for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Doss joins fellow Buckeye greats James Laurinaitis, who is in his second year on the ballot, and Chris Ward, who is in his fourth, as one of three nominees from Ohio State for the College Football Hall of Fame's class of 2021.
Each school is allowed a maximum of three nominees, who also must have received first-team All-American honors during his career, must be at least 10 years removed from his collegiate career and no longer playing professionally and must have played college football within the last 50 years to be eligible for Hall of Fame induction.
A spot opened up on the Hall of Fame ballot this year for Doss, who was a three-time first-team All-American safety for the Buckeyes, after former Ohio State running back Keith Byars – in his sixth year on the ballot – was selected in March as the 26th Buckeye to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
| PLAYER | POSITION | YEARS | INDUCTED |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHIC HARLEY | HB | 1916-17, 19 | 1951 |
| GAYLORD STINCHCOMB | HB | 1917-20 | 1973 |
| WES FESLER | E | 1928-30 | 1954 |
| GOMER JONES | C | 1934-35 | 1978 |
| GUST ZARNAS | G | 1935-37 | 1975 |
| BILL WILLIS | T | 1942-44 | 1971 |
| LES HORVATH | QB | 1940-42, 44 | 1969 |
| WARREN AMLING | G/T | 1944-46 | 1984 |
| JIM DANIEL | T | 1939-41 | 1977 |
| VIC JANOWICZ | HB | 1949-51 | 1976 |
| HOPALONG CASSADY | HB | 1952-55 | 1979 |
| JIM PARKER | G | 1943-46 | 1974 |
| AUREALIUS THOMAS | G | 1955-57 | 1989 |
| ARCHIE GRIFFIN | RB | 1972-75 | 1986 |
| JIM STILLWAGON | MG | 1968-70 | 1991 |
| BOB FERGUSON | FB | 1959-61 | 1996 |
| RANDY GRADISHAR | LB | 1971-73 | 1998 |
| JOHN HICKS | T | 1970-73 | 2001 |
| JACK TATUM | DB | 1968-70 | 2004 |
| JIM HOUSTON | E | 1957-58 | 2005 |
| REX KERN | QB | 1968-70 | 2007 |
| CHRIS SPIELMAN | LB | 1984-87 | 2009 |
| EDDIE GEORGE | RB | 1992-95 | 2012 |
| ORLANDO PACE | LT | 1994-96 | 2014 |
| TOM COUSINEAU | LB | 1975-78 | 2016 |
| KEITH BYARS | RB | 1982-85 | 2020 |
Doss and Laurinaitis are two of only eight players in Ohio State history to earn first-team All-American honors three times. Doss recorded 331 total tackles in his Ohio State career, the most ever for a Buckeye defensive back, and helped lead Ohio State to a national title in 2002, when he also earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. Laurinaitis recorded 375 total tackles in his Ohio State career, leading the Buckeyes in tackles for three consecutive seasons (2006-08) while winning the Bronko Nagurski Award (nation's best defensive player) as a sophomore and the Butkus Award (nation's best linebacker) as a junior.
Ward was a two-time All-American offensive tackle for Ohio State, earning consensus first-team honors in 1976 and unanimous first-team honors in 1977, and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in all three of his seasons as the Buckeyes' starting left tackle.
Each of them will hope to become Ohio State's 27th College Football Hall of Famer when the class of 2021 is announced early next year.
