Coughlin Makes Hall of Fame Cut, Joins Belichick and Three Others as Coaching Finalist

Coughlin, Belichick and Reeves all have Giants ties, and only one of the five finalists will advance to the full selection committee.

Tom Coughlin gives a thumbs up at the 30th annual Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic Tournament. The organization he founded raises money for families whose children are battling cancer. He is to receive a 2026 OneJax Humanitarian Award for his efforts, | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Legendary New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl winner, is among the five nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Coaching category.

Coughlin made the cut from the original list of 14 nominees. On Nov. 17, the Hall of Fame subcommittee will meet virtually to narrow the five-member list to one candidate. That candidate’s name will be submitted to the full selection committee, which will vote on the Class of 2027 in early 2027.

Coughlin began his head coaching career with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1995-2002) before signing with the Giants (2004-2015) and ushering in a new and prosperous era of Big Blue football with Eli Manning as the team’s franchise quarterback.

Coughlin posted a 182-157 record (including playoffs). In addition to the two Super Bowl championships he won as head coach of the Giants, Coughlin was part of Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells’ assistant coaching staff when the franchise won its first Super Bowl championship in 1986.

In addition to Coughlin, two of the other four remaining coaching nominees have ties to the Giants organization.

Bill Belichick, like Coughlin, served as an assistant on Parcells’ staff, first as a special teams/defensive assistant in 1979, then as the special teams/linebackers coach from 1980 to 1984, and then as the defensive coordinator from 1985 to 1990.

Belichick’s candidacy, though, rests on his legacy as head coach of the New England Patriots, where he coached from 2000 to 2023 and won six Super Bowl titles.

Dan Reeves is the other candidate with ties to the Giants organization. Reeves served as the Giants’ head coach from 1993 to 1996 after spending most of his head coaching career with Denver.

His Broncos teams went to the Super Bowl three times, and he also led the Atlanta Falcons, whom he coached from 1997 to 2003, to a Super Bowl appearance. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that kind of luck with the Giants.

The other two head coaching finalists are Mike Shanahan, who coached the Raiders, Broncos and Commanders, and Mike Holmgren, who coached the Packers and Seahawks.

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