Buckeyes Legend James Laurinaitis Nominated For 2025 College Football Hall of Fame

Former Ohio State Buckeyes ex-linebacker and current linebackers coach James Laurinaitis have been nominated for the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class.

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Former Ohio State Buckeyes ex-linebacker and current linebackers coach James Laurinaitis has been nominated for the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class.

The National Football Federation and College Football Hall of Fame announced that Laurinaitis, alongside former coach Urban Meyer, were among 77 players and nine coaches who were nominated.

"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.7 million people have played college football and only 1,093 players have been inducted," NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said in a statement.

"The Hall's requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today's elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year."

Laurinaitis was a three-time first team All America, two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and won the 2006 Bronco-Nagurski Trophy and 2007 Butkus Award.

During his time with the Buckeyes, Laurinaitis had 275 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and nine interceptions in 51 games over four seasons. He also helped guide the Buckeyes to four straight Big Ten titles from 2005-2009, two of which were split with Penn State.

Votes will be gathered at the Honors Court - chaired by two-time Heisman Trophy-winning running back Archie Griffin - with will finalize the class. The inductees will be announced early next year with the official ceremony at the 67th Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9, 2025.