George Seifert, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren, who helped guide the 49ers to multiple Super Bowl wins in the 1980s and early ’90s, are among the 12 coaches in the running for the 2026 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Joining the trio as finalists are six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Bill Arnsparger, Alex Gibbs, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer and Clark Shaughnessy.
SUPER BOWL:MIAMI,29JAN95- San Francisco 49ers’ head coach George Seifert is drenched from the Gatorade bucket by his player Rickey Jackson near the end of Super Bowl XXIX, Jan. 29 in Miami’s Joe Robbie Stadium. The 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers 49-26 for a record fifth Super Bowl victory for the team. hb/Colin Braley REUTER
Seifert helped San Francisco win two Super Bowls in 1982 and 1985 as a defensive coordinator under Bill Walsh and then to consecutive championships in 1989-90 as head coach after taking over for Walsh. Seifert was the 49ers head coach for eight seasons, leading the team to a 98-30 record with seven playoff berths He won at least 10 games in all eight seasons in charge of the 49ers and his winning percentage (.766) is the best for any coach on a single team with at least 100 games.
Shanahan, whose son, Kyle, coaches the 49ers, was the offensive coordinator under Seifert on San Francisco’s 1994 championship team and then won back-to-back titles as head coach in Denver in 1997-98. Shanahan finished with a 170-138 record for the Raiders, Broncos and Washington.
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 brought into the league that tied the outside zone run with the passing game is still the most prevalent in the league today.
FILE – In this Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan celebrates with his dad, Mike, after the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Santa Clara, Calif. Passing the family business onto the kids is a delicate chore, even when the whole world isn’t watching. When it plays out in the NFL, everyone gets to see the successes and failures unveiled in real time. This year’s Super Bowl features two of those stories. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan learned a lot of what he knows from his dad, Mike, who has three Super Bowl rings of his own back at home. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
Holmgren won a Super Bowl as the Packers’ head coach in 1996 after winning rings in 1988 and 1989 as the 49ers’ offensive coordinator. The San Francisco native got his coaching start at Abraham Lincoln High. After five seasons at San Francisco State he joined the 49ers in 1986 as the quarterbacks coach. Holmgren preceded Shanahan as offensive coordinator in San Francisco and also had a big impact on future coaches with Andy Reid and Jon Gruden going on to win Super Bowls after working under Holmgren in Green Bay.
Seifert, Shanahan, Belichick and Coughlin are among the 14 coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls. Nine of those coaches are already in, with the Chiefs’ Reid still active as the other.
Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots, is in his first year of eligibility after rule changes put in place last year requiring coaches only to be out of the NFL for one full season before being considered for the Hall.
A blue-ribbon committee will reduce the field to nine semifinalists next month and eventually down to one finalist. Holmgren earned that spot last year but fell short in the final vote. The coach will be grouped with one contributor and three seniors candidates. Between one and three of those five finalists will make it to the Hall based on getting at least 80% of the votes from the full committee.
FILE – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he celebrates after the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Belichick was the architect of the New England Patriots dynasty in the 2000s, leading the franchise to six Super Bowl titles and three other appearances in the game during an 18-year span from 2001-18. Belichick’s 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs with New England and Cleveland are the second-most to Don Shula’s 347.
Coughlin coached 20 years for Jacksonville and the New York Giants. He led the Jaguars to the AFC title game in their second season as a franchise and back again in the 1999 season. But his greatest success came after taking over the Giants in 2004.
He led the franchise to a Super Bowl title in the 2007 season when New York upset the undefeated Patriots and then knocked off Belichick, Tom Brady and New England again four years later. Coughlin finished with a 170-150 regular-season record.
Josh Dubow of The Associated Press contributed to this report.