Bill Belichick again is among five coaching candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Bill Belichick again is among five coaching candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan join Belichick in the Coach category for possible election into the Hall’s Class of 2027.

The list was announced Thursday by the Canton, Ohio-based Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Members of the Hall’s coaching subcommittee made their selections from an original field of 14 nominees. The subcommittee will select one candidate to be considered when the Hall’s selection committee determines a new class of enshrinees in early 2027.

All five reached this stage last year when Belichick advanced in the process but the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach was not elected in his first year of eligibility. Belichick’s snub was criticized intensely around the NFL.

“If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there’s really no coach that should ever be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, which is completely ridiculous because people deserve it. He’s incredible,” Tom Brady said.

Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. Belichick also won two as a defensive assistant coach with the New York Giants.

Belichick’s career included a sign-stealing scandal dubbed “Spygate” in the 2007 season. He was fined $500,000 after the team was caught filming defensive signals from the New York Jets during a game.

Belichick’s final season in New England was 2023. He’s in his second season coaching in college at North Carolina.

Coughlin won two Super Bowls with the Giants, beating Belichick, Brady and the Patriots both times. He was 182-157 in 20 seasons with the Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars. Coughlin also won a title with Giants as an assistant coach.

Holmgren led the Green Bay Packers to one Super Bowl title and was 174-122, including postseason, in 17 seasons with the Packers and Seattle Seahawks. He also won two Super Bowls as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers.

Reeves was 201-174-2 in 23 seasons with the Denver Broncos, Giants and Atlanta Falcons. He led the Broncos to the Super Bowl three times and the Falcons once, going 0-4. Reeves won a title as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys.

Shanahan won back-to-back Super Bowls with Denver and was 178-144 in 20 seasons with the Broncos and Washington Redskins. He also won a title with the 49ers as an assistant coach.

On Wednesday, the Hall of Fame announced the five contributors who have advanced in the process: Ralph Hay, Robert Kraft, Virginia McCaskey, Doug Williams and John Wooten.

The final list of 15 candidates will include one contributor, one coach and 13 modern-era players. The group will be reduced to 10 and then seven candidates.

A 25-person selection committee will be able to vote for six people, with 80% of support needed. The Hall said that would lead to a range of three to seven Hall of Famers each year, with by far the most likely number to get the necessary support being either five or six people.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027 will be announced at “NFL Honors” in Los Angeles in February and enshrined next August in Canton.

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