National High School Football Hall of Fame considering Pittsburgh for new location
The National High School Football Hall of Fame is looking for a new permanent home, and Pittsburgh is on its list of candidates.
Since the hall's inception, all inductions have taken place in Canton, Ohio, at the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"High school football and college football in western Pennsylvania and throughout the state are second to none, and it was very attractable for us to be looking at the city of Pittsburgh," board of directors member Len Krichko, a Hermitage native who earned seven varsity letters at Hickory High School, said.
The board is looking for a 35,000-square-foot building that can be retrofitted or a new structure. Its final decision on which city that building is in will be made within the next 60 days.
Krichko said Pittsburgh's rich history of football at the high school, college and professional levels makes it a top contender. Then, when the city hosted a record of 805,000 fans for the NFL draft this past April, that also caught the board's eye.
"The whole draft, having over 1 million people in Pittsburgh, was phenomenal within itself," he said. "That played a big factor in our role of looking to make sure that we were picking a location where football was embraced, and people enjoyed Friday Night Lights."
The massive collection of high school football talent hailing from the region is also what makes the thought of hosting a national hall of fame plausible. Two members of the incoming Class of 2026 are Pro Football Hall of Fame members hailing from western Pennsylvania: running back Tony Dorsett from Hopewell High School and quarterback Jim Kelly from East Brady, Pa.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and current KDKA analyst Charlie Batch was a standout quarterback at Steel Valley High School and was inducted into the National High School Football Hall of Fame in 2025.
"It was a great honor to honor Charlie," said Krichko. "We had a phenomenal class that he was in."
Similar to the experience in Canton and the National College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, the goal is for kids and adults who love the game of football or have a passion for it to be able to embrace it in the new building, wherever it may be located.
"We want people to be excited going into the hall," Krichko said. "People get excited when they walk in those buildings, the interactive exhibits."