Cincinnati has finished filling out its 50th James P. Kelly UC Athletics Hall of Fame class, and the last name on the list is one of the biggest Bearcats to ever do it.
Jason Kelce is the final member of the 2026 class, the school announced Thursday morning as Homecoming weekend on campus comes into view this fall. The Hall of Fame class will be inducted at 7:30 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena on Friday, Oct. 23, the night before Cincinnati’s 100th Homecoming football game against Texas Tech.
The university’s announcement described Kelce as a “University of Cincinnati football great” and placed him alongside a decorated group that includes legendary men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins, track and field All-Americans Loretta Blaut and Wayne Mason, baseball career batting average leader Mike Kinnett, women’s soccer record-setting goalkeeper Christy Hoffman, and Kelce’s UC and Philadelphia Eagles teammate Connor Barwin.
Longtime athletic trainer Bob Mangine will receive the Bob Goin Award for distinguished service.
Kelce’s resume at Cincinnati and beyond is hard to ignore. He started on the offensive line for three seasons from 2008-10 before launching a 13-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles that put him on the short list for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along the way, he collected six All-Pro selections and seven Pro Bowl nods, won Super Bowl LII in 2018 and later played in Super Bowl LVII in 2023 before retiring.
The timing also ties the honor to a big football weekend for the Bearcats. Cincinnati is set to face Texas Tech that same weekend, as head coach Scott Satterfield and his team continue working to build on the record bumps from each of the last two seasons.
At Big 12 Media Days, Satterfield said, "We're trying to put out a great team of individuals that come together and play as a team, and I think that's that's been our focus this whole off season is to become really connected, to become tight as a unit, and that's what we've been able to do, and it's exciting to see these guys work this summer," Satterfield said at Big 12 Media Days.
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For Cincinnati, the appeal is not just adding another name to the depth chart but adding a player who can help define the front of the defense as the season approaches. The Bearcats will get their first real test Sept. 5, when they open 2026 at home against Boston College, and by then the staff will want the new-look unit to feel less like a collection of transfers and more like an established strength. Johnson's role in that process is part of what makes this group worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
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Jason Kelce Gives Cincinnati Fans Another Reason To Be Proud
Jason Kelce is set for another Cincinnati honor this fall, as the former Bearcats standout will be inducted into the University of Cincinnatis James P. Kelly Hall of Fame. The ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 23 at Fifth Third Arena, adding another celebratory chapter to a career that already made him one of the most recognizable names to wear a Cincinnati uniform.
Kelces rsum bridges his time in college and his success in the NFL, where he became a championship center and won two Super Bowls with the Philadelphia Eagles. For Cincinnati fans, the Hall of Fame nod is another reminder of how far a Bearcats great can go, and it brings a familiar name back into the building where so much of that journey began. [Read more 🡒]