ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There are now only nine coaches up for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but a strong case can be made there are only two worth strongly considering.
Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves.
Biased? Not after digesting the merits of each.
First, the other seven coaches who are up for election into the HOF class of 2025: Bill Arnsparger, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert and Clark Shaughnessy. Longtime Broncos’ offensive line coach Alex Gibbs didn’t make the cut from 14 to 9 candidates.
All deserve the Bronze Bust, perhaps, but not before Shanahan and Reeves are sculpted for immortality.
No doubt Shanahan would be the choice of Broncos Country and contemporaries across the NFL landscape. After the Broncos had been drubbed in their first four Super Bowl contests, he led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 1997 and 1998.
The first title, XXXII, was one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history as the NFC had 13 in a row coming in and the Broncos were 12-point underdogs to the defending-champion Green Bay Packers, who were coached by Holmgren. Shanahan’s second Super Bowl, XXXIII, was a blowout of Reeves’ Atlanta Falcons.
Shanahan’s Broncos started a 17-10 Super Bowl run for the AFC. Shanahan also had 170 regular-season victories, placing him 18th all-time. Moreover, Shanahan’s coaching tree has been the most fruitful since Bill Walsh.
During Shanahan’s four seasons with Washington from 2010-13, his assistants included current successful head coaches Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur and Mike McDaniel, plus Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
Long after Shanahan stopped coaching, the Shanahan offense has been dominating the NFL the past seven or eight years.
Then there’s Reeves, who would likely be the choice of those who remember an earlier time.
There are three coaches who have gone to four Super Bowls and lost them all: Bud Grant, Marv Levy and Reeves. Grant was inducted into the Hall of Fame 30 years ago, and Levy went in 23 years ago. They lost their four Super Bowls with one team. Reeves went to four Super Bowls with two different teams, a more impressive accomplishment. He also turned around the New York Giants from a 6-10 team in 1992 under Ray Handley to 11-5 in their first season under Reeves.
Besides all that, Reeves threw a 50-yard halfback touchdown pass to Lance Rentzel in the famed Ice Bowl. Had the Hall of Fame come up with a combo player-coach category, Reeves, who died on New Year’s Day 2022, would have been cinch years ago.
A Hall of Fame coaching subcommittee will meet Nov. 19 to select one – and only one – coach candidate who will go before the final 50-member HOF selection committee for vote roughly a week before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
