Five Former NFL Head Coaches Who Belong in the NFL Hall of Fame

5. Tom Coughlin

Jacksonville Jaguars 1995 to 2002
New York Giants 2004 to 2015

Credentials: 170 wins. .531 record. Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI Champion.  Coached players such as Eli Manning, Mark Brunell, Toni Boselli, Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, David Tyree and Jason Pierre-Paul.  He took the Jaguars to the playoffs in their second season.  Remember, this was an expansion team at the time.  He went to the playoffs 9 times in 20 seasons while suffering 8 losing seasons.  He also coached 3 seasons at Boston College, turning the program around and leading them to a #13 ranking before being named the first coach of the Jags.

Why not: After leaving the Giants, he went back to Jacksonville.  During that time, the team continued some lackluster performance on the field and Coughlin was the target of a NFLPA grievance.  It should also be pointed out that 3 of those 8 losing seasons where his last three with the Giants.  Arguably, if Coughlin had retired right after his second Super Bowl, he'd be in the Hall.  But that did not happen.

 I only know of two other NFL head coaches who has won two Super Bowl Championships and is not in the NFL Hall of Fame.  You will read about them down this list.  Others like Bill Parcels, Tom Flores, Don Shula and Tom Landry are also in the Hall of Fame.  There are coaches with weaker records in the Hall.

4. Marty Schottenheimer

Cleveland Browns 1984-1988
Kansas City Chiefs 1989-1998
Washington 2001
San Diego Chargers 2002-2006

Credentials: 200 wins.  .613 record.  Only two seasons in his career below .500.  Coached players such as Bernie Kosar, Ozzie Newsome, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen (with the Chiefs), and Philip Rivers.  His coaching tree includes Bill Cowher (Hall of Fame inductee), Tony Dungy (Hallo of Fame inductee), Mike McCarthy and Bruce Arians who have all won the Big game.  His teams made it to the playoffs 13 out of the 21 season he coached.  He had 2 seasons where his teams did not make it to .500.  His regular season record is one of the best not in the Hall of Fame.

Why not: he never won a Super Bowl.  In fact, he never coached in the game as a head coach nor as an assistant coach.  He never played in the game as a player.  Three times he made it to to conference championship game as a head coach, twice coaching the Cleveland Browns and once coaching the Kansas City Chiefs.  The two games with the Browns were memorable games; for the Denver Broncos.  While his one time in the AFC Championship Game with the Chiefs, his team was blown out by the Buffalo Bills.  During he tenure in San Diego, he never won a single playoff game.  If he even made it to the Big Game once, win or lose he likely would have worn a gold jacket in his lifetime.  He won a championship with the Virginia Destroyers of the USFL in 2011.

In spite of the negatives, with his winning record, he deserve to be enshrined in Canton.  Sadly, Coach Marty passed away from Alzheimer's Disease in 2021.  He was diagnosed during his season coaching the Destroyers.

3. Mike Holmgren

Green Bay Packers 1992-1998
Seattle Seahawks 1999-2008

Credentials: 161 wins. .542 record.  Super Bowl XXXI Champion with the Packers.  He coached the Packers the following season, but lost in Super Bowl XXXII to the Denver Broncos.  He also coached the Seattle Seahawks in their first Super Bowl appearance as a franchise in Super Bowl XL, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Coached players such as Brett Favre, Desmond Howard, Reggie White and Matt Hassleback.  His coaching tree includes Andy Reid and Jon Gruden.  As an assistant coach, he coached Steve Young at both the college an pro levels.  He was an offensive assistant for BYU's National Championship and the latter years of the 49er's dynasty. He coached 17 seasons, with 12 playoff appearances and 14 winning seasons.

Why not: After he left the Seahawks, he took an executive position with the Cleveland Browns.  He was considered a quarterback whisperer.  In his 3 seasons with the Brows he did not produce a winning season nor a regular starting quarterback.  But that has happened a lot since the Browns returned.  Today he is an analyst for the NFL's radio broadcasts on the Westwood One Network.

Come on, lots of head coaches don't make good executives.  It's a poor excuse.  Put Mike in the Hall.

2. George Seifert

San Francisco 49ers 1989 - 1996
Carolina Panthers 1999-2001

Credentials: 114 wins. .648 record.  Super Bowl XXIV and XXIX champions.  The long list of players he has coached include Montana, Young, Rice, Sanders, Waters, Lott, Haley, Dean and the list goes on.  His coaching tree includes Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, Jon Gruden, Jeff Fisher, Gary Kubiak and Mike McCoy.  Before he was chosen as the successor to Bill Walsh, he was the defensive coordinator for the 49ers.  He was an important cog in the 49ers dynasty of the 80s and 90s.  When he was the defensive coordinator, his defenses always finished in the top 10 in the league in scoring defense.

Why not: When Siefert left San Francisco, he had the highest percentage of any coach in history.  His years in Charlotte were forgettable, including a 1-15 season in 2001.  In San Francisco, many though he was riding on Bill Walsh's coattails and detractors will say that his record with the Panthers proves it.  He also failed to provide a winning season when he coached Cornell in the 1970s.  

He had a tremendous amount of on the field talent and gifted assistant coaches with the 49ers.  He did not put any of that to waste and won a pair of Super Bowl Championships.  He didn't have that in Carolina, a franchises which has not exactly been one of the NFL's best.  Even though in that final season he could have drafted Drew Brees, he drafted instead Dan Morgan who became one of the future cornerstones of the franchise.  This season also say the debut of Steve Smith and Kris Jenkins.  I wouldn't exactly call the 2001 season a complete bust in spite of the record.  The NFL should give him a gold jacket while he still lives.  He is now 83 and they are running out of time.

1. Mike Shanahan 

Los Angeles Raiders 1988 - 1989 (Both partial seasons)
Denver Broncos 1995 - 2008
Washington 2010 - 2013

Credentials: 170 wins. .522 record. Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII Champion.  Coached players such as John Elway, Terrell Davis, Ed McCaffrey, Shannon Sharpe, Bill Romanowski, Steve Atwater, Jason Elam and Robert Griffin III.  He was the coach that finally helped Elway get a ring.  As an assistant with the 49ers, he coached Young and Rice and the offense that got the monkey off of Young's Back.  His coaching tree includes Gary Kubiak and Sean McVey who have both won Super Bowl Championships.  It also includes Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun, Kyle Shanahan, Jedd Fisch, Matt LaFleur and Mike McDaniel.

Why not: His record after the retirement of John Elway is good but not great.  But it is not terrible.  He coached Washington for four seasons, only making the playoffs once during those four seasons.  But making the playoffs for a team owned by Daniel Snyder may have been almost as difficult as winning the Super Bowl with the Broncos.  This only happened four times, twice by Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, once by Shanahan and once by Ron Rivera.  We will see what happens with new ownership in Washington, but hopefully, it will be better.

Of all the retired coaches, Shanahan is the one who should be in the Hall.  His record is impeccable.  His time with the Raiders shouldn't count against him as Al Davis didn't give him a fair shot.  His time with Washington was as good as any under the ownership of Daniel Snyder.  His time in Denver was great.  He belongs in the Hall of Fame.