Tim Couch relieved to enter College Football Hall of Fame

Year after year, Tim Couch was a finalist for the College Football Hall of Fame. Year after year, the former Kentucky quarterback’s name was not called by the National Football Foundation.

Practicing patience was difficult for the competition junkie. It finally paid off when his family surprised him with the news he’d been waiting for years to hear.

“Honestly, I had kind of put that thought in the back of my mind because it had been several years on the final list,” Couch said Monday afternoon. “You get your hopes up the first few years and you see your name keep getting passed by, so I put it on the back burner and said, ‘If it happens, it happens. I’m not gonna stress about it, worry about it anymore.’

“I’ll tell you, I was very relieved when they broke the news and told me I was going in. It’s just an unbelievable honor, one that you never dream of when you’re actually in the moment playing this game. You just want to be the best teammate you can be and you’re trying to go out there and win football games. You never dream of something like this happening. So, it’s definitely an overwhelming feeling.”

Couch was a record-breaking innovator at Kentucky. Many of the milestones he accomplished showed the path for future quarterbacks to flourish. That might be a reason why he became discouraged when the College Football Hall of Fame never came calling.

“I understood both sides of it. I felt a little bit disappointed, which is natural. You know, I’m a competitive guy and you see names on there and you see the quarterbacks that get selected, obviously, your mind starts thinking, ‘Maybe I should have went over that guy.’ I think that’s just normal, how everyone works. But it’s not to say those guys weren’t deserving, because they are. Then I would step back and think, ‘Well, he’s deserving to be in here also. It’s just a matter of time,'” he said.

“I wanted to be in and I’m just glad it happened. It was it was well worth the wait. Now that I look back at it, once your name is called, you forget about the years that your name was passed by immediately.”

Couch is a part of an illustrious Hall of Fame Class

It’s hard to have a Hall of Fame class without knowing some names on the list. This year’s group features more star power than most. Despite the long process, the Kentucky kid is blessed to be among the best to ever play the sport.

“5.7 million people have played college football, and I think there’s only 1200 People in the Hall of Fame. The numbers on that are — it’s a pretty rare deal that you get selected for this,” said the former Kentucky quarterback.

“It was a long wait for me but when you look at it like that, and you look at the numbers and you look at the incredible players that go into this deal and coaches each year, you see why it takes so long and why the process is like this. I’m just incredibly thrilled, incredibly honored and humbled to be going into this class and especially with the guys I’m going in with — the likes of Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald and Warrick Dunn and Julius Peppers — it’s just it’s just a very strong class that I’m very, very honored my name is a part of.”

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2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class

PLAYERS

• Justin Blackmon – WR, Oklahoma State (2009-11)
• Paul Cameron – TB, UCLA (1951-53)
• Tim Couch – QB, Kentucky (1996-98)
• Warrick Dunn – RB, Florida State (1993-96)
• Armanti Edwards – QB, Appalachian State (2006-09)
• Deon Figures – CB, Colorado (1988, 1990-92)
• Larry Fitzgerald – WR, Pittsburgh (2002-03)
• Toby Gerhart – RB, Stanford (2006-09)
• Dan Hampton – DT, Arkansas (1975-78)
• Steve Hutchinson – OG, Michigan (1997-2000)
• Antonio Langham – CB, Alabama (1990-93)
• Randy Moss – WR, Marshall (1996-97)
• Julius Peppers – DE, North Carolina (1999-2001)
• Paul Posluszny – LB, Penn State (2003-06)
• Dewey Selmon – NG, Oklahoma (1972-75)
• Alex Smith – QB, Utah (2002-04)
• Kevin Smith – CB, Texas A&M (1988-91)
• Chris Ward – OT, Ohio State (1974-77)
• Danny Woodhead – RB, Chadron State [NE] (2004-07) 

COACHES

• Mark Dantonio – 132-74-0 (64.1%): Cincinnati (2004-06), Michigan State (2007-19)
• Danny Hale – 213-69-1 (75.4%): West Chester [PA] (1984-88), Bloomsburg [PA] (1993-2012) 
• Frank Solich – 173-101-0: Nebraska (1998-2003), Ohio (2005-2020) 

For more on the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class, click here.