Bill Belichick among final 12 coaches for Hall of Fame 2026 class
Six-time Super Bowl winner head coach Bill Belichick qualified as one of the final 12 coaches in the running for the 2026 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Belichick is in his first year of eligibility after rule changes implemented last year requiring coaches to only be out of the NFL for a full season before being considered for the Hall.
Two-time Super Bowl champion coaches Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan and George Seifert also advanced, as did another Super Bowl winner, Mike Holmgren.
Other coaches in the running are Bill Arnsparger, Alex Gibbs, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer and Clark Shaughnessy.
A selection committee will narrow the field to nine semifinalists next month and eventually one finalist. Holmgren earned this spot last year, but fell short in the final vote. The coach will be grouped with a contributor and three senior candidates. Between one and three of these five finalists will make it to the floor if they receive at least 80% of the votes from the entire committee.
Belichick was the architect of the New England Patriots dynasty in the 2000s, leading the franchise to six Super Bowl titles and three other game appearances during an 18-year span from 2001 to 2018. Belichick’s 333 regular season and playoff wins with New England and Cleveland are second only to Don’s 347 Shula.
Belichick was also one of the best defensive assistants in the game before taking over in New England, winning two more Super Bowls as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
Belichick’s tenure in New England ended after the 2023 season and he is now a college coach at North Carolina with a team that is 2-4 in his first season.
Belichick, Coughlin, Shanahan and Seifert are among 14 coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls. Nine of those coaches are already there, with Andy Reid still active as the other.
Coughlin coached for 20 years for Jacksonville and the New York Giants. He led the Jaguars to the AFC title game in their second season as a franchise and back again in the 1999 season. But his greatest success came after taking over the Giants in 2004.
He led the franchise to a Super Bowl title in the 2007 season when New York toppled the undefeated Patriots, then knocked off Belichick, Tom Brady and New England four years later. Coughlin finished with a 170-150 regular season record.
Seifert helped San Francisco win two titles as defensive coordinator under Bill Walsh, then two more as head coach after succeeding Walsh in 1989.
He won at least 10 games in eight seasons leading the 49ers with his record of 98-30 (.766), the best for any coach of a single team with at least 100 games. But he failed to replicate that success in three seasons with Carolina, going 16-32.
Shanahan was the offensive coordinator under Seifert on San Francisco’s 1994 championship team, then won back-to-back titles as head coach in Denver in 1997-98. Shanahan finished with a 170-138 record for the Raiders, Broncos and Washington and his impact on the game is still strong today thanks to his disciples, including his son, Kyle, who coaches San Francisco.
Four other current NFL head coaches worked under Shanahan in Washington – Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, Matt LaFleur and Raheem Morris – and the offensive system he introduced to the league, which equalized the outside zone run with the passing game, is still the most prevalent in the league today.
Gibbs was Shanahan’s longtime offensive line coach in Denver and helped implement the zone running system that was the foundation of the offense.
Holmgren preceded Shanahan as offensive coordinator in San Francisco and also had a big impact on future coaches, with Reid and Jon Gruden winning Super Bowls after working under Holmgren in Green Bay. Holmgren was 161-111 for the Packers and Seahawks, winning the title in 1996. He also appeared in the Super Bowl the following season in Green Bay and then again in the 2005 season in Seattle.
