Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub: these are the first ballot Hall of Fame coaches
The New England Patriots are preparing for Super Bowl Sunday in just over a week, but it’s another legendary Patriot making headlines this week.
The New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl for the 12th time in franchise history, and while that is noteworthy enough in Foxborough, Patriots nation is up in arms about the Hall of Fame snubbing one of their own.
All-time snub for most successful coach ever
Bill Belichick had a chance to be voted in to the Hall of Fame this year, but some how the six time Super Bowl champion as a head coach was not voted in as a first ballot Hall of Famer. No one in the history of the league has more Super Bowl titles, and only one coach has more overall wins.
Bill Belichick, the 8-time Super Bowl-winning HC, is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, per @SethWickersham and @DVNJr. Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.https://t.co/ooJutI0C0Q
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 27, 2026
Don Shula is the only coach who has more wins that Belichick with 328 over his 32 seasons as a head coach. In that time Shula won two Super Bowls, led the Miami Dolphins to the only undefeated season in the history of the NFL, and when it was all said and done, he was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1997.
Shula is one of five coaches that have been named to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The others were George Halas and Curly Lambeau in 1963 when the Hall of Fame opened it’s doors and inducted the legendary two coaches that are synonymous with the early days of the NFL. Halas won 8 NFL Championships in his nearly 50 year long head coaching career while coached the Green Bay Packers for three decades, wining 6 NFL Championships from 1929 to 1944.
Landry, Knoll and Shula join first ballot list
Tom Landry was the next to be voted as a first ballot Hall of Fame coach in 1990. Landry was a First Team All-Pro before becoming a coach. After a brief playing career, he was named the Dallas Cowboys coach in 1960 and held the job until 1988. In that time he won two Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
Chuck Knoll was the only other coach that made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The former Pittsburgh Steelers coach spent 23 years as the boss on the sidelines of the Steele City and led the Steelers through their age of glory winning four Super Bowls in the 1970s. He was inducted in 1993 just a couple years after he retired from coaching in 1991.
There has been plenty of backlash from former players, media members and coaches around the league after the decision to leave Belichick out of Canton in his first year of eligibility.
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