Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick is among nine coaches still in the running for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
The nine semifinalists announced Wednesday are Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert and Mike Shanahan.
The Coach Blue-Ribbon Committee initially narrowed the list from 15 nominees to 12 in late October. The committee will meet virtually in mid-November to select one finalist for the Class of 2026, to be enshrined in August in Canton, Ohio.
Coaches previously had to be retired for at least five years before becoming eligible, but the Hall of Fame announced in August 2024 the rule was changed to one year.
Belichick, who parted ways with the New England Patriots in January 2024, was not eligible for the 2025 class because the selection process already had begun.
Only Don Shula (328-156-6) and George Halas (318-148-31) have more regular-season wins in NFL history than Belichick, who was 302-165 in 29 seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-23). He has the most career playoff wins (31-13 record) in collecting Super Bowl titles with the Patriots in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Belichick, 73, currently is the head coach at the University of North Carolina.
Six of the nine coaches in the semifinals won at least one Super Bowl or NFL title game: Coughlin (2007, 2011), Holmgren (1996), Seifert (1989, 1994), Shanahan (1997, 1998) and Parker (league championships in 1952, 1953).
Holmgren was the finalist for the Class of 2025, Parker in 2020 and 2024, and Reeves in 2020.
Voting for modern-era players, seniors and contributors also is taking place, with 20 finalists eventually submitted for the selection committee’s annual meeting in advance of the Super Bowl.
The selection committee will vote on 15 modern-era players, three seniors, one coach and one contributor, but no set number is required to be enshrined — only a range of four to eight to be selected.
–Field Level Media
