The Pro Football Hall of Fame does a reasonably good job, with a few notable exceptions, of ensuring the top players achieve HOF status in a timely fashion.
Unfortunately, the same can’t always be said for the most chronically undervalued members of any NFL team — the coaches.
Many head coaches have waited a long time for their deserved HOF recognition; two-time Super Bowl champion and all-time Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson had to wait a whopping two decades for his eventual enshrinement back in 2020.
And there are many left unrecognized altogether. Here are Heavy’s Top 10 coaching legends still snubbed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
10. Howard Mudd
GettyHoward Mudd.
It is true that the Hall of Fame committee does not recognize coordinators, let alone position coaches, for eligibility. However, they ought to; and the remarkable career of Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo may end up forcing their hand. For now, the late Howard Mudd remains out of the HOF but very much in the minds and hearts of true fans who recognize him as quite possibly the greatest NFL offensive line coach of all time. Mudd, who was an offensive line coach from 1974-2012, including 11-plus seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, died in a motorcycle accident in August 2020.
9. Jeff Fisher
GettyJeff Fisher.
The legendary coach of the Houston Oilers turned Tennessee Titans, Jeff Fisher‘s later work in St. Louis with the Rams never matched the quality set in his years in the South. Some believe him to be overrated and kept along too long in the league, and many consider his scheme prowess to have diminished post 1990s. But 17 years as head coach of an NFL franchise that remained successful, going to a Super Bowl and a championship game, certainly deserves some level of recognition and plaudits.
8. Dan Reeves
GettyDan Reeves.
The man who could never quite win it all. While many fixate on the Buffalo Bills‘ four consecutive years as the Super Bowl losers, they forget amid the success of the 1990s about the Denver Broncos‘ almost equally impressive three Super Bowl defeats in four years from 1986-1989. Almost cruelly, Dan Reeves then brought another franchise, the Atlanta Falcons, to the Super Bowl a decade later in 1998, only to be defeated by — of course — the Denver Broncos.
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7. Chuck Knox
GettyChuck Knox.
Lacking recognition due to his lack of significant postseason success, Chuck Knox was a fixer-upper who found almost immediate success at every franchise he brought his services to as a head coach — despite a poor second stint at the Los Angeles Rams during the final years of his career. Known for his fastidious attention to detail and culture-setting prowess — making the NFC championship game three years in a row with the Rams in the mid 1970s — Knox certainly deserves a seat at the table of coaching elites.
6. Jim Mora
GettyJim Mora.
Back-to-back USFL Championships do not count for much in the decision-making process for the Hall of Fame, but sadly for Jim Mora, this was about as close as he would get to a Super Bowl ring. And while he never managed to obtain or even come particularly close to that elusive goal, the 15-year NFL head coach transformed the New Orleans Saints organization that had never had a winning season in the 20 years since their 1967 inception into perennial postseason contenders, creating one of league’s most dangerous defenses in the process. A total of zero playoff wins will work against him if he’s considered for the hall of fame, but his work transforming an otherwise totally embittered, losing franchise cannot be overstated.
5. Marty Schottenheimer
GettyMarty Schottenheimer.
Similar to Knox, Marty Schottenheimer forced success upon every franchise he touched. A Grade A culture builder whose teams were raised on powerful defenses and an excellent run game, Schottenheimer’s downfall, like many on this list, derives from a below average 5-13 postseason record — despite making a total of three championship games with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns.
4. Tom Coughlin
GettyTom Coughlin.
The only man to have foiled Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl on numerous occasions, Tom Coughlin‘s blistering defensive line helped the New York Giants ransack New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in both the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl — both times as underdogs. People seem to forget, with Coughlin’s impressive work in New York, about his almost equally impressive job commandeering the introduction of the Jacksonville Jaguars into the National Football League. The two-time Super Bowl champion guided them to four consecutive playoff appearances in their first half-decade of professional football, including two championship games. And he may yet see his day: Coughlin was selected as one of nine coach finalists for the Hall of Fame Class of 2025, with a final decision to be announced in December.
3. George Seifert
GettyGeorge Seifert.
The first hoister of the Lombardi Trophy on this list, George Seifert admittedly inherited a strong, three-time Super Bowl-winning team when he took over the San Francisco 49ers from legendary head coach Bill Walsh. Yet Seifert managed to steady the ship and continue an already impressive legacy when he won the Super Bowl in his very first season in charge. Going to a special five championship games in six years, including two Super Bowl rings with two different quarterbacks, caps off the 49ers’ nearly 20-year dynasty at the pinnacle of the National Football League. Seifert is also among the nine coach finalists for the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
2. Mike Holmgren
GettyMike Holmgren.
One of the few coaches to have taken multiple teams to the Super Bowl, Mike Holmgren will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest coaches in both Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks‘ franchise history. One of the top offensive minds of his generation, and perhaps all time, he played a key role in the development of young quarterback, three-time MVP and Hall of Famer Brett Favre, who bought the team a 1987 Super Bowl win, the Packers’ first in almost 30 years; and former sixth-round pick Matt Hasselback, who lead the Seahawks to the 2006 Super Bowl, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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1. Mike Shanahan
GettyMike Shanahan.
Take out Mike Shanahan‘s two Super Bowl wins in the late 1990s — not to mention a celebrated 25-year career — and you still have a strong Hall of Fame candidate. Shanahan has single-handedly had a greater impact on the modern day offense than any other coach over the past 30 years. The West Coast principles coupled with the Outside “Wide Zone” scheme utilized by his son, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, and many of his disciples has proved to be one of the most successful, effective offenses today.
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10 NFL Coaching Legends Still Snubbed From the Hall of Fame