Luckhardt, Mihalik, Hieber, Murawski among locals on College Football Hall of Fame ballot

When John Luckhardt retired from Cal U in 2012, he likened his 40-plus-year journey coaching football, which also included a successful stint at Washington & Jefferson, to a “Carnival cruise.”

Luckhardt could soon be setting sail toward the elite of college football.

He is a candidate for the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame.

The jovial and well-respected Luckhardt pieced together a 225-70-2 record. The win total ranks second on the ballot among 39 other coaching candidates.

He is not the only local name on the ballot.

Longtime Slippery Rock coach Greg Mihalik, former IUP quarterback Lynn Hieber, late Carnegie Mellon linebacker Kenneth Murawski, Westminster running back Brad Tokar and former Clarion tight end Gary McCauley also are included on the long list of candidates in the “Divisional” category (i.e. below major Division I).

Luckhardt went 137-37-2 at Washington & Jefferson from 1982-98, turning around a hit-or-miss program. He went on to 13 Presidents Athletic Conference titles and 11 NCAA playoff appearances.

Luckhardt was the AFCA/Kodak National Coach of the Year in 1992 and the CNN Division III Coach of the Year in ‘94.

While at Cal from 2002-11, Luckhardt went 88-33 and guided the Vulcans to the NCAA Division II semifinals three straight times.

Mihalik coached Slippery Rock for 28 seasons (1988-2015) and won 197 games, eight PSAC West titles and advancing to the NCAA Division II playoffs six times.

He was named PSAC Coach of the Year six times and Super Region One Coach of the Year three times.

Hieber, a two-time All-American at IUP in 1974 and ‘75, graduated with seven program records, including career marks for total offense (5,793 yards), passing touchdowns (30) and completion percentage (52.5). He will look to join two other IUP products in the hall: Jim Haslett (2001) and Frank Cignetti (2013).

Murawski, who played for CMU from 1978-81, only lost five times in 40 career games and was part of PAC title-winning teams in 1978, ‘79 and ‘81, as well as a pair of NCAA playoff teams.

A Kodak first-team All-American, he had 243 career tackles and nine interceptions.

Murawski died in 2014 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Pitt’s Craig “Ironhead” Heyward and Steve Wisniewski of Penn State lead the local contingent in the major college football category of the hall of fame ballot.

Coaches must have been at one place for at least 10 years, must have coached 100 games and must have a winning percentage of .600 or better to be considered for the hall of fame ballot.

The hall of fame class will be announced in early 2021 and inductees will be enshrined in December.

Players must have been out of the game for 10 years and need to have at least one All-America honor to qualify.

Seventy-eight players and seven coaches from major college football are up for selection. In addition, 99 players and 33 coaches from the lower levels of college football are eligible for induction.

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District players/coaches on the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame ballot

Players

Matt Cavanaugh, Pitt, QB (1975-77)

D.J. Dozier, Penn State, RB (1983-86)

Bobby Engram, Penn State, WR (1991, ‘93-95)

Craig Heyward, Pitt, RB (1984, ‘86-87)

Lynn Hieber, IUP, QB (1972-75)

Gary McCauley, Clarion TE (1978-81)

Kenneth Murawski, Carnegie Mellon, LB (1978-81)

Brad Tokar, Westminster, RB (1987-90)

Steve Wisniewski, Penn State, OL (1985-88)

Coaches

Jim Carlen, West Virginia (1966-69)

John Luckhardt, Washington & Jefferson/Cal U (1982-98; 2002-11)

George Mihalik, Slippery Rock (1988-2015)