Mile High Huddle

Broncos Legend Mike Shanahan Snubbed by Hall of Fame, Again

It feels like it should only be a matter of time for former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

James Campbell

Former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan acknowledges the crowd at his Ring of Fame induction.
Former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan acknowledges the crowd at his Ring of Fame induction. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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As the Pro Football Hall of Fame Announces its Senior, Coach and Contributor Finalists, Mike Shanahan misses out again. 

Sports are compelling because of the stories. The elite achievements are captivating. The 12 men who walked on the Moon have their names etched in the history books forever. Yet, with the NFL, some coaches are in that same rarefied air. 

Just 12 head coaches posted 100 wins in their first ten seasons with a club. Six are already enshrined in Canton. Seven NFL head coaches have won back-to-back Super Bowls. Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Jimmy Johnson – all Pro Football Hall of Famers, and rightly considered among the best head coaches of all time. 

The others? Bill Belichick and Andy Reid who figure to be sure-fire first-year selections when their time comes. 

And Mike Shanahan. 

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As head coach of the Denver Broncos, Shanahan is the winningest with 146 wins (including postseason) He owns the highest winning percentage. He matched Don Shula winning two Super Bowls in his first four years. 

Overall, Shanahan was part of 10 Conference Championship games, five Super Bowl appearances, three wins including as an offensive coordinator where he helped the San Francisco 49ers to their fifth Super Bowl with a record-setting offense. 

His innovative scheme spawned numerous 1,000 yard rushers, and a successful coaching tree that is all over the NFL. 

And yet, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its coaching finalist, Mike Holmgren was chosen. In terms of coaching records, his record is quite similar to Shanahan – going to five Super Bowls, winning three, including as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator of the team that scored the most points in Super Bowl history.

The one as a head coach, ended a long championship drought in Green Bay. He took Seattle to the Super Bowl for the first time. Including post-season wins, Holmgren has 174 wins to Shanahan’s 178. 

At 13-11, Holmgren has more playoff wins, but Shanahan’s 8-6 record in the postseason is a higher winning percentage. Furthermore, Holmgren’s most successful coach of his coaching tree is none other than Andy Reid. 

Mike Klis suggested that Superbowl XXXII against the Packers where the Broncos won despite being 11-point underdogs, could have acted as a tiebreaker.

Granted, Shanahan’s later career was much less successful. Six years without a playoff win, the 2008 calamity that ultimately culminated in being fired as Broncos head coach, embarrassment in Washington despite the considerable personnel power he had as a ‘super-coach.’ 

All this is part of the Shanahan story, that can explain why he might have been snubbed again. All of this is juxtaposed against Holmgren finishing below .500 just three times in his 17 years as a head coach, all with the Seahawks, but he took his second team to the Super Bowl. 

However, with the changes that the Pro Football Hall of Fame had made creating more competition, if there is hope for Shanahan to get in next year, realistically Bill Belichick would need to land a head-coaching job. 

Then the strongest competition in the coaching category would figure to be Tom Coughlin, himself winner of three Super Bowls, two as head-coach, and 182 NFL games.  

To further emphasise, all of this is not to discredit Mike Holmgren. He is not an egregious selection, and in naming him as a finalist, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has righted a wrong. 

And with the new process, he still has to compete against the three senior finalists: Maxie Baughan, Sterling Sharpe, and Jim Tyrer as well as the lone contributor finalist Ralph Hay. But three of the five will make it – with Holmgren very likely to get in this year.

Unquestionably, the story of the NFL can not be told without Mike Shanahan. He should get in, but it is nevertheless very hard for Broncos fans to have faith in the selection process when worthy Broncos such as Louis Wright and Mike Shanahan have to continue to wait. 

That is egregious.

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James Campbell
JAMES CAMPBELL

James Campbell

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