Finalists for the Class of 2023 for the Black College Football Hall of Fame were announced this week and 4 nominees with Bills ties are on the list.
Current Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, former Bills RB coach Elijah Pitts, former Bills WR Mike Holmes and former Bills DB Pete Richardson are among the 25 nominees for the 2023 Class.
Frazier attended Alcorn State University, an HBCU, from 1978-1980 as a defensive back. Frazier has been the Bills DC since the 2017 season and has been influential in constructing one of the best defenses in the NFL during that span.
Pitts had two stints in Buffalo as the RB coach; one from 1978-1980 and another from 1985-1997. He also was the assistant head coach under Bills Legend Marv Levy from '92-'97 and coached during all four of Buffalo's Super Bowl appearances. Pitts attended HBCU school Philander Smith College from 1958-1961.
Richardson attended Dayton University as a defensive back and was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 1968 NFL Draft. He played for the team from 1969-1971 and went on to coach at Southern University, an HBCU school, from 1993-2009. There, he won five Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) titles and four Black College Football national championships.
Lastly, Holmes attended HBCU school Texas Southern University from 1970-1973 and was a Bills receiver during the 1976 season.
The Black College Football Hall of Fame was founded in 2009 and this year's inductees will be announced on December 8, 2022. They will be recognized for the first time at the Second Annual HBCU Legacy Bowl in New Orleans on February 25, 2023 and honored during the 14th Annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, June 10, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.
