December 10th, 2024 2:00pm
The 66th annual National Football Foundation Awards dinner will occur Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. As part of the ceremony, 22 individuals will be formally inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Among the newly enshrined hall of farmers are two representatives from Division II: Two-time Harlon Hill Trophy winner Danny Woodhead of Chadron State and Danny Hale, retired head coach of Bloomsburg (1993-2012) and West Chester (1984-1988). Hale also played at West Chester in the 1960s and earned a Bachelor’s degree (1968) and master’s degree (1973). Woodhead is the first representative of Chadron State in the College Football Hall of Fame. Hale is the second representative for Bloomsburg and the first for West Chester.
ESPN+ will stream the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas live, beginning at 6 p.m. PT
Position: Running Back
Years: 2004-07
Place of Birth: North Platte, NE
Date of Birth: January 25, 1985
Jersey Number: 3
Height: 5-8
Weight: 204
High School: North Platte (NE)
One of most gifted and accomplished running backs in history, Danny Woodhead finished his career as college football's all-time rushing leader across all levels of play. The North Platte, Nebraska, native now becomes Chadron State's first-ever College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
A three-time First Team All-American (2004, 2006-07), Woodhead twice claimed the Harlon Hill Trophy as the most valuable player in Division II (2006, 2007). A four-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) First Team selection, he was the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year three times after being selected as the RMAC Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2004. He was named the most valuable player for Chadron State all four years in college, and he was also named the All-Century Offensive Player by the RMAC.
Woodhead finished his Chadron State career as college football's all-time rushing leader with 7,962 yards, and he owned 21 NCAA Division II records when he graduated. The records included most consecutive games rushing 100 or more yards (16), games rushing 200 or more yards (19), most consecutive games scoring a touchdown (38) and most yards rushing in a season (2,756 in 2006).
He averaged 181 rushing yards per game during his career and 6.89 yards per carry, while rushing for 101 career touchdowns. He added 129 receptions for 1,417 yards and eight touchdowns, finishing his career with 109 total touchdowns and tying him for the most in college football annals. He also had 101 yards on kickoff returns, giving him a total of 9,480 all-purpose yards by career's end. He holds virtually every rushing/all-purpose record in RMAC and Chadron State annals.
Chadron State went 35-11 during Woodhead's four years with the team. The Eagles claimed two RMAC titles with consecutive 12-win seasons in 2006 and 2007, and they went 2-2 in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
A 2007 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy® finalist, Woodhead also excelled in the classroom, notching a 3.72 GPA as a double major. He was named a CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American in 2006 and 2007 and the inaugural recipient of the RMAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2007.
Undrafted in 2008, Woodhead signed with the New Jets as a free agent, and he went onto a successful 10-year NFL career with the Jets, Patriots (playing in Super Bowl XLVI), Chargers and Ravens. He retired after the 2017 season with 4,936 all-purpose yards and 32 touchdowns.
Woodhead currently is the co-CEO of Arise Venture, a business consulting firm in Nebraska. A scratch golfer, Woodhead made a run at becoming a professional golfer, falling just short of qualifying for the U.S. Open. He was inducted into the Chadron State College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.
Position: Coach
Years: West Chester [PA] (1984-88), Bloomsburg [PA] (1993-2012)
Place of Birth: Mavisdale, Virginia
Date of Birth: December 29, 1946
Career Record: 213-69-1 (75.4%)
One of winningest coaches in Division II history, Danny Hale won an astounding 75.4% of his games during a 25-year head coaching career that included a 20-year stint at Bloomsburg University (PA) and began at West Chester University (PA) in 1984. Hale now becomes the first person from West Chester and the second person from Bloomsburg to the College Football Hall of Fame.
At Bloomsburg, Hale posted a record of 173-56-1 (75.4%) and holds the school record for most coaching victories. Overall, in 25 years as a head coach, he had a mark of 213-69-1 (75.4%) and ranked among the top five active coaches in NCAA Division II in winning percentage and victories at the time of his retirement.
In his 20 seasons as head coach at Bloomsburg, Hale led the Huskies to 11 outright or shared Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division titles and eight NCAA postseason playoff berths. In his final 13 seasons (2000-2012), Bloomsburg was one of the most successful NCAA Division II programs with a combined record of 121-32 (79.1%). He guided the Huskies to seven 10-win seasons. Before his arrival, Bloomsburg had only one 10-win season (1985 at 12-1) since the program's inception in 1892.
Hale was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) District I Coach of the Year nine times, the third-highest total in AFCA history and twice winning the honor in consecutive seasons (2000 and 2001 and 2005 and 2006). He was named the PSAC Eastern Division Coach of the Year 10 times, including four-straight times from 1994 to 1997 and back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006. Hale was also a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award in 2006 and was featured on ABC in a special hosted by the late Keith Jackson.
Hale's most memorable season came in 2000 as the Huskies advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, eventually losing to Delta State. After losing the first two games of the season, Bloomsburg rattled off 12-consecutive victories. In the national semifinals, the Huskies rallied from 19 points down to stun UC-Davis, 58-48, to advance to the title game for the first time in program history. Hale earned the AFCA Division II National Coach of the Year award following the season.
Hale coached six First Team All-Americans and 96 First Team All-Conference players, including Harlon Hill Award winners Irv Sigler (1997) and Franklyn Quiteh (2013), who both earned the award as the nation's best Division II football player. He also coached Jahri Evans and Matt Feiler, with each playing in the NFL for more than a decade.
At West Chester, Hale went 40-13 (75.5%), won three PSAC East titles, and advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 1988. Prior to West Chester, Hale was an offensive line and defensive coordinator at Colgate from 1981 to 1983. He was also the offensive line coach at Bucknell from 1975-80 and was defensive coordinator and linebacker coach at Vermont in 1974.
Hale is a graduate of West Chester, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in health and physical education in 1968 and 1973. He was an All-Conference pick at West Chester and earned the team's most valuable player in the 1967 State Championship game. He also lettered in track and field three times. He is a member of the West Chester Football, the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports and the Bloomsburg University Athletic halls of fame.
In 1968, Hale signed with the Pottstown Firebirds, the semi-professional farm club of the Philadelphia Eagles, before entering the Marine Corps, where he played middle linebacker for the Quantico Marines. Following a three-year stint, he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in 1972.
Hale, who earned an honorary degree from Bloomsburg in 2001, went into the motel business after retiring from coaching, and he is a member of the Bloomsburg Elks Lodge and Prison Ministry.