It should come as no surprise that despite the individual honor that is election to the College Football Hall of Fame, an offensive lineman deflects it more to his team.

“Look at the talent off that squad,” May said. “Look at the potential we had and what happened afterward. We had 21 guys who went on to play in the USFL or NFL. We felt we should have had an opportunity to win a national championship not only my senior year but my junior year as well. When we get together and golf during the summer, we still talk about it. We’re still bitter.”

Coach Jackie Sherrill once remarked of that team: “That was the best football team ever assembled, talent-wise. … Never, ever, has a team produced that many great players.”

May was not only part of one of Pitt’s best teams ever, he was part of a recruiting class that all other Pitt recruiting classes are compared.

“The people who worked so hard around me at the University of Pittsburgh, family and friends, this is all for them,” May said. “I will cherish this for the rest of my life.”

May was a member of what is arguably the greatest recruiting class in Pitt history. The players who arrived in ’77 — including May, Hugh Green, Ricky Jackson, Russ Grimm and Greg Meisner — notched a four-year mark of 39-8-1 and three top-10 final rankings.

In 1980, May’s senior season, the Panthers went 11-1 and finished No. 2 in the polls.

“We had such great teams,” May said. “To join three other players in the College Hall of Fame who I played with (Green, Marino and Jim Covert), is truly an honor.”

The official induction takes place in December.