There are Hall of Fame classes and then there are Hall of Fame classes. This past weekend on Friday evening, August 29, the night before the season-opener against Marshall Between the Hedges, the Class of 2025 was inducted into Georgia’s Circle of Honor – the University’s Hall of Fame.

Every class has been incredible, but this one will rival any – past or future. The three-legend class is composed of Manual Diaz, Jeff Wallace and Herschel Walker.

Now, there is a space limitation in this column, so I’ll certainly leave out something wonderful about these iconic Bulldogs. Each is worthy of multiple books. But let’s start here, as athletes, assistant coaches and head coaches, Diaz, Wallace and Walker combined to win an astounding 70 Southeastern Conference championships and 16 national titles.

Diaz and Wallace are two of the greatest tennis coaches of all time. Diaz directed the men’s program, succeeding the Greatest Bulldog Ever, Dan Magill, and Wallace coached the women. These two proteges went to record breaking win totals and championship runs – in five different decades. Yes, Diaz and Wallace won conference titles and/or played for the national championship in five different decades: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Let that sink in.

Magill’s best player of the 1970s, Diaz collected 11 SEC championship rings as a player. He was a part of four SEC championship teams, won four SEC doubles titles and three SEC singles crowns. As an assistant, Diaz helped Georgia to the 1985 and 1987 national championships. Two years later, he became the Bulldogs head coach. During an incredible record breaking run, Diaz’s Dogs won four national championships, two indoor NCAA titles and a combined 29 SEC titles (regular season and tournament). From 1985-2008, Georgia played in the NCAA outdoor finals 13 times in 24 years.

Wallace was an outstanding player for Georgia as well. He was part of an SEC championship, and then, as a grad assistant, Wallace helped the Bulldogs to a national title. Soon after, he took over the Georgia women’s program and the Bulldogs surged to unprecedented heights. In his second season, the Bulldogs had gone from a good program to playing for the national championship. During his amazing career, Wallace’s women won six national titles (two outdoor, and four indoor) and 20 SEC crowns.

Walker is the greatest college football player of all time, and the most beloved player by any fanbase ever – sorry Archie Manning and Tim Tebow. In three seasons, Walker was the centerpiece of a Golden Era for the Red and Black, as Georgia won the 1980 national championship and three straight Southeastern Conference crowns, while compiling a cumulative 33-3 record.

Number 34 won the 1982 Heisman Trophy, after finishing third as a freshman (many feeling he deserved it 1980) behind South Carolina’s George Rogers and Hugh Green of Pitt, and second in 1981 to Southern Cal’s Marcus Allen. Herschel was a three-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and three-time first team All-American. When his career at Georgia was over, “The Goal Line Stalker” had accumulated over 100 combined NCAA, SEC and school records.

With Walker in the backfield, Dooley’s Bulldogs of 1980-1982 posted a cumulative 9-0 record against the Yellow Jackets, Florida and Auburn. Georgia lost just once in the regular season, at Clemson in 1981, and headed to the Sugar Bowls three straight years ranked No. 1 and 11-0, No. 2 and 10-1, and No. 1 and 11-0.

I can still do these statistics off the top of my head, 994 carries, 5,259 yards with 52 touchdowns – 49 on the ground, three through the air. His season rushing totals were 1,616 (breaking Tony Dorsett’s NCAA freshman record from 1973) in 1980, an SEC record 1,891 in ‘81, and 1,752 for his Heisman winning junior season of 1982.

Amongst the dignitaries at the Circle of Honor ceremony were numerous members of Georgia’s elite Hall of Fame. That includes my good friend Allen Miller, two-time national championship tennis player. He was Georgia’s first ever four time All-American (from 1982-1985), and this die hard Dawg always says, “I wish i had been the second.”

Amen Ace.

The legacy of these three titans is impossible to measure. Along with their unparalleled success as players and coaches, all are amongst the most humble, gracious and kind men that you will meet. The influence, the impact that they have had on so many is also unquantifiable. How much joy they delivered to so many people. These three legends are simply incredible.

For me, growing up in Statesboro, I was eight, nine and 10 when Herschel played Superman in Athens. My love for the Georgia Bulldogs was forever sealed, and he will always be my absolute favorite and most loved athlete of all time.

During our years together in Athens (my freshman year was 1991), Diaz and Wallace became close friends. I’ll always cherish these two and their families.

Bravo to these three Dynamic Dawgs, a class that would rival any, at any school any time.