What's the criteria for an NFL HC to be in the HOF?

Cowher has a better postseason record than Dungy and I think most would agree he had less to work with than Dungy did and nobody ever accuses Cowher of overachieving in the postseason.

 

When I see that Marv Levy is in, does Dan Reeves have any shot? He did coach the Chris Chandler-led Falcons to the Super Bowl, defeating the best NFC team since the '85 Bears along the way. Or since it didn't end well for Reeves in Denver and Atlanta, he has no shot?

As for the Flores push back, very valid points. Thank you. Perhaps it's a difference of outlook and expectations. I would rather win a SB or two and deal with a couple of 4-12 or 5-11 seasons sprinkled in (Flores) than be 9-7, 11-5, 13-3, 10-6 and get bounced early in the playoffs and never make a Super Bowl.

 

Let's not forget how good a coach Madden was. His Raiders teams were excellent on both sides of the ball, always well-prepared and driven hard, and he was an inspirational leader on the field, too.

From Wiki: Madden retired as a Super Bowl winning head coach and was the youngest coach ever to reach 100 career regular season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. He is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history. Madden's overall winning percentage including playoff games ranks second in league history. He won a Super Bowl and never had a losing season as a head coach. Madden has a winning record as a head coach against other future Hall of Fame head coaches.

 

He was the coach of a legendarily successful franchise that had the misfortune to be in the same conference with two other even more legendary franchises. That factor, is what will also help Dungy's case. Wow, he couldn't beat the Patriots of the early 2000s? Well, neither could anyone else. Rightly or wrongly, BTW, success with two different franchises is a significant criteria for coaches' Hall candidacies.

 

In 9 of Madden's 10 years his teams played a 14 game regular season schedule. That makes 103 regular season wins in 10 seasons all the more impressive. Madden also lost 6 AFL/AFC championship games. He didn't have a HOF QB or RB.

 

That Dungy was successful with Tampa cuts both ways. 4 playoff seasons in his 6 years, 2-4 playoff record, 0-1 in the NFC Championship and the year after he leaves they win the Super Bowl. You can say Gruden won with Dungy's players, you can also say that Dungy couldn't win with his own players.

 

Don't forget the Bucs' legendary record of suckitude before Dungy got there. Ending that is an accomplishment of note.

 

Which is why neither gets you into the Hall of Fame as a coach. You gotta have both the outstanding regular season accomplishments plus the titles. There's really not one or the other in and I don't think that's going to change.

 

If you put Coughlin in, you almost have to put in Shanahan. Their numbers are so close that if one's worthy it doesn't make sense to leave out the other.

As of today:

Shanahan 168-129, 8-6 playoffs, 2 titles, 5 division titles, 8 10-plus win seasons, 5 losing seasons (not counting his 1-3 year)
Coughlin 151-127, 11-7 playoffs, 2 titles, 7 division titles, 7 10-plus win seasons, 5 losing seasons

 

Reeves is a really interesting one.

 

Mizzou, the fact that Shanahan won Super Bowls with Elway and Reeves didn't come close hurts Reeves' chances a lot. Unfair but true.

 

I agree. I also have issues with a coach who had one of the best quarterbacks of all-time on his team and he could never figure out the proper way to use him.

I think Reeves and Schottenheimer deserve to be in Canton, but I don't think either makes it.