IRVING, Texas (March 11, 2020) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced Monday the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which includes two representatives from the Atlantic Coast Conference – Virginia defensive back Anthony Poindexter and former NC State head coach Dick Sheridan.
“The accomplishments of NC State’s Dick Sheridan and Virginia’s Anthony Poindexter speak for themselves, and we are pleased they will be recognized by the National Football Foundation as part of this year’s College Football Hall of Fame class,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “The ACC congratulates both of our honorees as well as the other members of the 2020 class.”
The 17 First Team All-America players and two standout coaches in the 2020 class were selected from the national ballot of 76 players and five coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the 101 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks and the NFF Veterans Committee candidates.
The 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the New York Hilton Midtown. The inductees will also be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the fall. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Anthony Poindexter
University of Virginia
Defensive Back, 1995-98
Regarded as one of the fiercest hitters in the game during his career, Anthony Poindexter ranks among the best defensive backs in Virginia history. The Lynchburg, Virginia, native becomes the fifth Cavalier player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Just the second player in UVA history to be a two-time First Team All-American, Poindexter garnered consensus honors after his senior campaign. The 1998 ACC Defensive Player of the Year was a finalist for both the Thorpe and Nagurski Awards while playing for College Football Hall of Fame coach George Welsh. After guiding UVA to a share of the 1995 conference title and earning Honorable Mention All-ACC accolades, Poindexter would go on to become just the third Cavalier to be named a three-time first-feam All-ACC selection. A two-time team captain, he was named a co-recipient of the 1998 Brian Piccolo Award as the ACC’s most courageous football player.
A second-team All-American in 1996, Poindexter led Virginia to three bowl games, including a win in the 1995 Peach Bowl. Named the 1997 Dudley Award winner as the best player in the state of Virginia, he owns the school record with seven career fumble recoveries while his 342 career tackles are the second most all-time among Cavalier defensive backs. A two-time recipient of the Ned McDonald Award as UVA’s most outstanding defensive player, Poindexter owns school single-game records for interceptions (3 vs. NC State in 1996), assisted tackles (14 vs. Virginia Tech in 1996) and fumble recoveries (2 vs. Georgia Tech in 1997 and again vs. Duke in 1998). A member of the ACC All-Academic Team as a junior, his No. 3 jersey was retired by the Cavaliers in 2009.
A seventh-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, Poindexter played for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns during three seasons in the league. During the 2000 season, he played in 10 games for the Ravens on the way to their victory in Super Bowl XXXV.
Following his NFL career, Poindexter spent 11 seasons on the coaching staff at his alma mater, starting as a graduate assistant and ending his Virginia tenure as safeties coach in 2013. After serving as defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Connecticut from 2014-16, he is entering his fourth season as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Purdue.
Dick Sheridan
Furman University (1978-85), NC State University (1986-92)
Head Coach, 121-52-5 (69.4 percent)
A national coach of the year at both the FBS and FCS levels, Dick Sheridan won 69.4 percent of his games during a stellar 15-year run as a head coach. After guiding one of the most successful runs in Furman history, he led a massive turnaround at NC State.
Sheridan began his head-coaching career at Furman from 1978-85, winning 69 games in eight seasons and posting a 74.4 winning percentage that remains the best in school history. During his first season in Greenville, he guided the Paladins to their first-ever conference football championship while earning his first of three Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors. Sheridan’s Furman teams would win six SoCon titles in his eight seasons, and they became just the second program in league history to win four in a row (1980-83). After overseeing the Paladins’ transition from the FBS to the FCS in 1982, he directed Furman to a first-round playoff appearance that year followed by a 10-2-1 season in 1983 that culminated with a trip to the FCS Semifinals. Sheridan’s final year at Furman was his best, as the team won a then-school record 12 games and narrowly lost the FCS National Championship Game.
The 1985 AFCA FCS National and Region II Coach of the Year earned multiple South Carolina Coach of the Year accolades during his career from the South Carolina Sportswriters Association, Columbia Touchdown Club and Charleston-Palmetto Touchdown Club. While leading the Paladins, Sheridan coached eight First Team All-Americans, 75 all-conference players and five SoCon Players of the Year, including the league’s first three-time selection Stanford Jennings. He also coached two-time Academic All-American and 1985 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Brian Jager, and he served as Furman’s athletics director from 1983-85. Sheridan is the first player or coach from Furman to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
Sheridan’s success followed him to NC State where he helped spark a turnaround as the coach from 1986-92. Prior to his arrival, the Wolfpack had posted three consecutive 3-8 seasons. During his first year in Raleigh, Sheridan would be named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year after leading NC State to an 8-3-1 record, a second-place finish in the conference and a berth in the Peach Bowl. He would guide the Wolfpack to five more bowl games, including wins in the 1988 Peach Bowl and 1990 All-American Bowl, as well as national rankings in 1991 (No. 24) and 1992 (No. 17). Boasting a winning record in all but one of his seven seasons at NC State, he would finish with the second-most wins in school history (52) while coaching four All-Americans and 31 all-conference players.
A native of Augusta, Georgia, Sheridan graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1964. He began his coaching career at the high school level, compiling a 37-8-1 record and leading Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School to a South Carolina state title in 1971. Two years later, Sheridan joined the staff at Furman as an assistant before becoming head coach in 1978. He is a member of the Furman Athletic, South Carolina Athletic and South Carolina Football halls of fame.