By JOSH DUBOW, Associated Press
Former 49ers coaches George Seifert and Mike Shanahan are among the nine finalists in the coach category for the 2026 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick headlining the group.
Belichick is in his first year of eligibility after rule changes put in place last year requiring coaches only to be out of the NFL for one full season before being considered for the Hall.
Two-time Super Bowl champion coaches Siefert, Shanahan and Tom Coughlin also advanced, along with another Super Bowl winner in Mike Holmgren, who is also a former 49ers assistant. Shanahan is the father of current 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
The other coaches in the running are Buddy Parker, who won two NFL titles with Detroit in the pre-Super Bowl era, Chuck Knox, Dan Reeves and Marty Schottenheimer.
A blue-ribbon committee will cut the list down to one finalist. Holmgren earned that spot last year but fell short in the final vote. The coach will be grouped with one contributor and three seniors candidates. Between one and three of those five finalists will make it to the Hall based on getting at least 80% of the votes from the full 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 appearances in the game during an 18-year span from 2001-18. Belichick’s 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs with New England and Cleveland are the second most to Don Shula’s 347.
Belichick also was one of the game’s top defensive assistants before taking over New England, winning two more Super Bowls as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
Belichick’s tenure in New England ended following the 2023 season and he is now coaching in college at North Carolina.
Belichick, Coughlin, Shanahan and Seifert are among the 14 coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls. Nine of those coaches are already in, with Andy Reid still active as the other.
Seifert helped San Francisco win two titles as a defensive coordinator under Bill Walsh and then two more as head coach after taking over for Walsh in 1989.
He won at least 10 games in all eight seasons in charge of the 49ers with his 98-30 record (.766) the best for any coach on a single team with at least 100 games. But he was unable to duplicate that success in three seasons with Carolina, going 16-32.
Shanahan was the offensive coordinator under Seifert on San Francisco’s 1994 championship team and 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 through 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 brought into the league that tied the outside zone run with the passing game is still the most prevalent in the league today.
Holmgren preceded Shanahan as offensive coordinator in San Francisco and also had a big impact on future coaches with Reid and Jon Gruden going on to win Super Bowls after working under Holmgren in Green Bay. Holmgren had a 161-111 record for the Packers and Seahawks, winning the title in 1996. He also got to the Super Bowl the following season in Green Bay and then again in the 2005 season in Seattle.
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Coughlin coached 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 upset the undefeated Patriots and then knocked off Belichick, Tom Brady and New England again four years later. Coughlin finished with a 170-150 regular-season record.
Reeves won 201 games in his career and went to the Super Bowl four times, losing three times with Denver and once with Atlanta.
Marty Schottenheimer won 205 games in a career that featured stints in Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego.
Knox was a three-time NFL Coach of the Year who won 193 games as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo and Seattle.
