Recently the crowds have been surging inside the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame and for good reason. It’s just around the corner from where some of the current greats of the game have been pushing towards a national title since December..
First, there was the SEC Championship Game in the nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Then, the Peach Bowl, a College Football Playoff quarterfinal, was held there. Next Monday, there’s the biggest game of all: the CFP national championship, the culmination of a month-long inaugural 12-team tournament.
“This has cemented Atlanta as the center of college football in America,” said Bill Linginfelter, a longtime president of the CFHOF board of directors and a banking leader in metro Atlanta for 46 years. He retired at the end of 2024 after a distinguished career as Regions’ market executive.
This has cemented Atlanta as the center of college football in America.
Bill Linginfelter, President of the CFHOF board of directors
“If you draw a five-hour radius, you get most of the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference schools within that circle. But this year is special in that Atlanta has played such a key role in the playoffs.”
And for Linginfelter, it’s been a sendoff like no other.
Being a college football fan, especially one with Southeastern Conference ties, came naturally to Linginfelter. His father-in-law, Jim Butler, played ball at Ole Miss. His father, Bill Linginfelter Sr., also played at Georgia Tech when it was a member of the SEC, some 30 years ago.
“It’s fun to be down here,” Linginfelter said. “This is the perfect place to get the flavor of the college football as a fan. It’s much more than a game.”
With its central location, it’s the perfect place for fans of the game to spend a few hours – or a day – as they ready for the next big game.
And Monday’s game between two college football bluebloods is the biggest of all.
The College Football Hall of Fame moved to Atlanta from South Bend, Indiana, in 2014, thanks in part to Linginfelter and Regions Bank.
A decade earlier, Atlanta put together an effort to bring the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which ended up in Charlotte, North Carolina, to town. A few years later, Linginfelter got a call from Gary Stokan, CEO and President of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, that the CFHOF was in search of a new home. And it wasn’t just a venue they needed.
No, they needed an Atlanta bank to do business with.
“It took an act of Congress to get the museum here,” Linginfelter joked. “But Regions stepped up quickly to help make it happen.”
It took an act of Congress to get the museum here,” Linginfelter joked. “But Regions stepped up quickly to help make it happen.
Bill Linginfelter
Linginfelter took the referral from Stokan to the commercial team, led by David Smith, to finance the hall and manage the relationship.
“David’s team did the heavy lifting with underwriting and credit,” Linginfelter said. “I was just fortunate to have the relationship with Gary that got us in the door.”
A decade later, the College Football Hall of Fame is part of the fabric of Atlanta. And it’s just one of the many amenities available to locals and visitors alike.
“I’m proud that it sits in a great spot in downtown Atlanta,” Linginfelter said. “It’s surrounded by (Centennial Olympic) Park on one side, the Georgia World Congress Center on the other, and hotels close by. The Georgia Aquarium is within walking distance.”