Troy Football legend Coach Larry Blakeney will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The National Football Foundation announced the 2025 Hall of Fame class on Wednesday. Blakeney being one of four coaches selected. He will be inducted alongside coaches Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Larry Corver.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Coach Blakeney said. “It’s one for all of us, all those coaches, players and fans.
“This is their award.”
Blakeney found out about his selection at his home, where he was met with phone calls after from many of his former players, including former New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes and Pro Football Hall of Famer Demarcus Ware.
“All the stuff that you have put in, and all the stuff that you have gone through is being enshrined forever,” Ware told his former coach. “I looked at all those others names, I’m like ‘he fits right in.’”
Coach Blakeney is the first Troy University coach or player to receive this honor. Over his career, Blakeney helped raise Troy football through the ranks. His first season in 1991 the Troy State Trojans were still at the Division II level.
After moving to Division I-AA, or FCS, he and the Trojans earned three Southland Conference titles in just five years. In 2002, the university made the move to Division I-A, now known as the FBS. Blakeney and the Troy Trojans took the Sun Belt Conference by storm, winning five consecutive Sun Belt Championships from 2006-10.
The Trojans’ first ever bowl win came with Blakeney at the helm, winning the 2005 New Orleans Bowl over Rice 41-17. He led Troy to five total bowl games, earning a second win in New Orleans over Ohio in 2010.
When Blakeney began his tenure at Troy, Veterans Memorial Stadium had a seating capacity of 12,000. One of his many impacts on the program can be seen in the now 30,000 seats that are filled to watch the Trojans play on “Larry Blakeney Field.”
Blakeney retired following the 2014 season with an all-time record of 178-113-1, making him the winningest coach in Troy history and Sun Belt history. That record also puts him at a 61% winning percentage, right above the required 60% to be Hall of Fame eligible.
The name “Blakeney” will be inscribed in the walls of yet another hall of fame building. He has already been inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame.
Blakeney now resides in Auburn, where he attended and played football in college under fellow College Football Hall of Famer Shug Jordan. Blakeney is still active in his community, receiving the “Unsung Hero” Award from the Chilton County Auburn Club for his civic contributions across the region.
Blakeney and his fellow Hall of Fame classmates will be officially inducted on Dec. 9 in Las Vegas. The longtime coach of the “Men of Troy” will forever be enshrined within the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
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