BROOK PARK, Ohio — The National High School Football Hall of Fame's class of 2026 is a star-studded one, Jim Kelly, Tony Dorsett, Brian Bosworth and Browns greats Lou Groza, Ozzie Newsome and Greg Pruitt among them.
"It's great to be recognized, you know, when you get to be my age, you think that you'd been forgotten," Pruitt said, who was on hand in Brook Park for the announcement.
Pruitt played his high school ball in Texas before going on to college at Oklahoma.
"The first time I played football, I never imagined that one day I would be standing here in the Hall of Fame," he said. "But I say to kids who come behind me, 'don't let nobody tell you how good you can be, find out for yourself,' and that's what I did."
The class also includes Lee Tressel, father of Ohio Lt. Governor and former Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel. The elder Tressel was a high school football coach at Mentor and Massillon before becoming head coach at Baldwin-Wallace College for 23 seasons.
Like many halls of fame, though, these early classes are announced without yet a physical home. News 5 was in Canton in 2023 when the very first class was announced.
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At the time, the hope was to build a permanent home in Canton, the same city where the Pro Football Hall of Fame was located, but after seeing what the Browns and the Haslam Sports Group were planning to build in Brook Park, they reached out to Mayor Ed Orcutt earlier this year.
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"They were looking for a home that was actually going to be meaningful to the sport," recalled Orcutt. "Through one, two, three meetings, we had some great discussions, and then from there we knew that there was a great possibility."
In July, the decision was announced to make Brook Park the new home of the hall. Included in the Class of 2024 was Jim Haslam II, the father of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who was a high school football standout in Florida before going on to the University of Tennessee. So might the Haslam Sports Group's Brook Park complex be a future site for the hall?
"It could be," said Founder LaMont Robinson. "You know we're in negotiations on where it's going to be here in Brook Park, so that's to come."
"I've been here three days, I've been going around looking at different sites," he said.
As for when he might like to see construction begin?
"Well, we hope to probably put shovels in the ground, do a ground breaking sometime in '26, maybe before the ceremony, but we're definitely talking around so we're getting close," Robinson said.
Brook Park is helping with that selection process, but for now, the mayor said they're just excited to host the July induction ceremony.
"We're taking phone calls from all over the country from people that are excited, that want to know when that ceremony will be," said Orcutt. "So there is excitement about the National High School Football Hall of Fame, more than I ever thought there would be."
The National High School Football Hall of Fame’s fourth Annual Induction Ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Brook Park, Ohio. Admission to the ceremony will be free, ensuring fans, families, and supporters from across the country can celebrate the honorees together. Details to be announced closer to the event.
2026 National High School Football Hall of Fame Induction Class
- Brian Bosworth – (LB) MacArthur High School
- Henry Butler – (HB) University School
- Channing Crowder – (LB) North Springs High School
- Randy Crowder* /P – (DL) Farrell High School
- Tony Dorsett – (HB) Hopewell High School
- Charles Follis – (HB) Wooster High School
- Lou Groza* /P – (OL) Martins Ferry High School
- John Heisman* /P – (OL) Titusville High School
- Jim Kelly – (QB) East Brady High School
- Vince Marrow – (TE) Cardinal Mooney High School
- Terrence Metcalf – (OL) Clarksdale High School
- Ozzie Newsome – (TE) Colbert County High School
- Drew Pearson – (WR) South River High School
- Greg Pruitt – (HB) B.C. Elmore High School
- Andrew Stockey – (Media) / (HB) Simsbury High School
- Lee Tressel* /P – (Head Coach) Mentor & Massillon High School
- Joe Vadini* /P – (Head Coach) Brecksville High School
- Vince Young – (QB) Madison High School
*P = Posthumous Inductee
