New York ? Lou Holtz, Troy Aikman and Billy Cannon were among 15 former players and coaches elected Thursday to the College Football Hall of Fame.

“When I first heard I was going into the Hall of Fame, I went “Wow! Wow! How’d this happen?” Holtz said during a National Football Foundation news conference.

Holtz coached six schools to 249 victories in a career that spanned more than 35 years. He won a national title with Notre Dame in 1988.

Cannon played tailback and defensive back for LSU from 1957-59, winning the Heisman Trophy his senior year. This is the second time he’s been elected to the Hall of Fame. In the early 1980s, he was voted in – but the invitation was rescinded after he was arrested on federal counterfeiting charges.

Cannon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison in 1983. He served 21â2 years. He’s been working as a dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola for the past 13 years.

Cannon told the Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday he was “tickled and happy” to be voted into the Hall again.

The other 11 players chosen by the NFF’s selection committee were Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski; Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald; Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall; Washington State running back Ruben Mayes; Arizona State guard Randall McDaniel; Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson; Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek; Texas Tech split end Dave Parks; Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons; Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas; and Army quarterback Arnold Tucker.

John Cooper, who went 192-84-6 with Tulsa, Arizona State and Ohio State, was the other coach selected for induction.