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Coughlin, Shanahan and Seifert are on the list of Hall of Fame coaching semifinalists

Coughlin, Shanahan and Seifert are on the list of Hall of Fame coaching semifinalists

Two-time Super Bowl-winning coaches Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan and George Seifert are among nine semifinalists in the coaching category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Another Super Bowl winner, Mike Holmgren, also made the cut Thursday after a vote by the Hall’s nine-member Blue Ribbon Committee. The committee will meet Nov. 19 to select a finalist, who will be presented to the Hall’s full selection committee for consideration early next year.

One coaching candidate is grouped a contributor And three senior candidates. Between one and three of these five finalists will make it into the Hall if they receive at least 80% of the votes of the entire committee.

Coughlin, Shanahan and Seifert are among 14 coaches to win multiple Super Bowls. Nine of those coaches are already in the Hall and Bill Belichick and Andy Reid are not yet eligible.

Coughlin coached for Jacksonville and the New York Giants for 20 years. He led the Jaguars to the AFC title game in their second season as a franchise and back again in the 1999 season. However, he celebrated his greatest success after taking over the Giants in 2004.

He led the franchise to the Super Bowl title in the 2007 season when New York defeated the undefeated Patriots and again four years later defeated Belichick, Tom Brady and New England. Coughlin finished the regular season with a record of 170-150.

Seifert helped San Francisco win two titles as defensive coordinator under Bill Walsh and two more as head coach after taking over from Walsh in 1989.

He won at least 10 games in all eight seasons as coach of the 49ers, with his 98-30 (.766) record being the best of any coach of a single team with at least 100 games. But he was unable to repeat that success in three seasons with Carolina, posting a 16-32 record.

Shanahan was the offensive coordinator under Seifert on San Francisco’s 1994 championship team and then won back-to-back head coaching titles in Denver in 1997-98. Shanahan finished with a 170-138 record for the Raiders, Broncos and Washington, and his influence on the game remains strong today through his students, 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 introduced to the league, which combined the outside zone running with the passing game, is still the most common in the league league today.

Holmgren preceded Shanahan as offensive coordinator in San Francisco and also had a major influence on future coaches, as Reid and Jon Gruden won Super Bowls after working under Holmgren in Green Bay. Holmgren had a 161-111 record for the Packers and Seahawks, winning the 1996 title. He reached the Super Bowl the following season in Green Bay and again in the 2005 season in Seattle.

Other semifinalists include Chuck Knox, who won Coach of the Year honors with the Rams, Bills and Seahawks; Dan Reeves, who went to four Super Bowls with Denver and Atlanta; and Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 regular-season games as head coach in Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego and reached the playoffs 13 times in 20 full seasons.

Bill Arnsparger, the defensive coordinator of Miami’s perfect team in 1972 and Super Bowl winner the following season, also made the cut.

The final candidate is the innovative Clark Shaughnessy, considered the “father of the T-formation” and three-receiver set during his long career. His stints also included serving as an advisor to Bears coach George Halas on a 73-0 win in the 1940 Washington title game, two years as head coach of the Rams and a stint as defensive coordinator for Halas in Chicago.

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