There have been numerous coaches in the NFL that have been regarded as the best of their time, or the best in their generation. While many of these coaches have made their way into the Hall of Fame, there are a number of them who should be there that aren’t.
Mike Shanahan, Andy Reid, Dick Vermeil, and many more, are just a few names of coaches that, for some reason, just haven’t been able to get their name in the Hall of Fame. this post will go through 5 coaches who should definitely be there.
The two-time Super Bowl winner barely needs an introduction. Mike Shanahan has been one of the most widely recognised names in coaches for years now, with his first career highlight coming at Super Bowl XXIX, where he was the assistant coach for the eventual winners the 49ers.
As a head coach though, he was at the helm of two Super Bowl victories while in charge of the Denver Broncos .Not only that, but Shanahan has been part of 10 teams that have played in 10 Conference Championship games. While later in career he was fired twice and was the head coach of two very unsuccessful teams, his legacy and success are undeniable.
A legend in San Francisco, George Seifert is one of the 13 coaches who has won more than one Super Bowl, winning it with the 49ers in both the 1989 and 1994 seasons. He is also one of the very few rookie coaches to win the Super Bowl.
He wasn’t only the head coach at the 49ers, as he coached on 5 different Super Bowl winning 49er teams. He spent a couple of seasons at the Carolina Panthers after his tenure in San Francisco, but didn’t see the success. He is still the only Panthers coach to not have a winning season or win a playoff game. However, his work in San Francisco will barely be emulated again.
Another man who needs little introduction, Dick Vermeil has won and done almost everything as a coach, except get his spot in the Hall of Fame. He coached the Eagles, the Rams and the Chiefs in his career, with his only Super Bowl win coming at Super Bowl XXXIV, when the Rams beat the Titans.
However, his list of achievements does not end there. He is a two-time Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year, a two-time Sports News NFL Coach of the Year, and a two-time Maxwell Club NFL Coach of the Year. He is also in the Eagle’s Hall of Fame, as well as being the only coach in the St Louis Football Ring of Honor.
Another coach that has plied his trade across the league as an assistant, head coach, as well as an executive, is Mike Holmgren. Holmgren saw his only Super Bowl win come at Super Bowl XXXI, when he led the Green Bay Packers to Victory.
Not only has he won the Super Bowl, but Holmgren has also won 3 NFC Championship titles, 2 Super Bowl Champion titles as an assistant, and 2 NFC Championships as an assistant coach. Individually, he has won the Steve Largent Award. He has also been inducted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.
Last year, he was named a coaching finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame “Centennial Slate”, as was up again for this year's class, however, he was part of the group that was cut. What more must this man do?
A coach that didn’t win the coveted Super Bowl, Schottenheimer still 100% deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. he spent his coaching career across the league, taking charge at the Browns, the Chiefs, the Redskins, the Chargers, and also spent time in the UFL coaching the Virginia Destroyers.
Remarkably, Schottenheimer is the only coach still eligible for the Hall of Fame with 200 regular season wins, who still hasn’t been inducted. He was the UFL Coach of the Year in 2011, the NFL Coach of the Year in 2004, AFC Coach of the Year in 1986 and 2004, and was also inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2010.
He was also the mentor for many assistant coaches who went on to become NFL head coaches, including Bruce Arians, Bill Cowher, Mike McCarthy and Wade Phillips. Schottenheimer’s influence was felt on and off the field.
These are only a small selection of coaches that should definitely find their way into the Hall of Fame. While many of them had incredible individual players or teams that helped them find success, the huge influence that these coaches had can not be ignored.
While some have found their way into the respective Hall of Fame for a particular team they coached, it would be a serious shame if they didn’t make it into the NFL’s Hall of Fame, a position that most fans and experts believe they all seriously deserve.
One of the greatest comebacks in professional football has come to an end, as Quarterback, Alex Smith, has officially retired from the NFL.
Smith came into the pros with lofty expectations, and how could that not be the case when you are a Quarterback who was taken first overall? From Utah, it was the San Francisco 49ers who chose him in 2005, but it was a mixed bag of success, as he struggled on the field and with injuries.
Missing the 2008 season due to shoulder issues, Smith had to fight to get his job back in 2009, but again, he could not make the upper-echelon of NFL Quarterbacks, though he took the Niners to the playoffs in 2011, and looked to have turned a corner. Smith got off to his best start in 2012, but a concussion led to him replaced in a game by Colin Kaepernick, who eventually became the permanent starter. With Kaepernick’s ascendence, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs after the season’s conclusion.
Smith’s tenure at Arrowhead was the best of his career. A chief for five seasons (2013-17), Smith led Kansas City to four post-seasons, and he went to three Pro Bowls. His best year was 2017, where he led the NFL in Passer Rating (104.7) and had career-highs in Passing Yards (4,042) and Passing Touchdowns (26), but this would be his last year with the Chiefs, as they had a young QB in Patrick Mahomes in wait. Smith, who helped mentor Mahomes, was dealt to Washington, but tragedy was on the horizon.
On November, 18, 2018, Smith broke his right leg when he was tackled by Houston’s Kareem Jackson and J.J. Watt. Following his first surgery, Smith contracted flesh-eating disease, and it got so bad that amputation was considered. Seventeen surgeries later, he began rehab, and was a back-up in 2020, until an injury to Kyle Allen put Smith back into the game. Smith played six Games in 2020, winning five, and he was rewarded with the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Smith retired with 35,650 Yards, a nice amount for a player that always seemed to be a placeholder.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Alex Smith the best his post-playing career.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021 revision of our top 50 Indianapolis Colts of all-time.
As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
There are two new additions in the Top 50, and one small elevation, from our current Colts, but none of which impact our top five.
As always, we present our top five. They are:
3. Gino Marchetti
5. Raymond Berry
You can find the entire list here.
Wide Receiver, T.Y. Hilton moved up one spot to #24.
Left Guard, Quenton Nelson, who has been a First Team All-Pro in all three of his seasons comes in at #48.
2018 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Darius Leonard enters at #49.
We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.
It was announced that former Kansas City Chief, Fred Arbanas, passed away at the age of 82.
Like many in the early '60s, Fred Arbanas was drafted by both the NFL and the AFL, but usually, those who chose the AFL were drafted higher by the new organization. This wasn't the case with Arbanas, who was a 7th Round Selection by the Dallas Texans, where the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd Round.
No matter, as Arbanas would go on to the All-AFL Team at Tight End. He was an AFL All-Star as a rookie, and with the Texans, he would help them win the Championship, but the organization would relocate to Kansas City, where they were rechristened as the Chiefs. Arbanas would continue his elite status at TE, where he would have another four AFL All-Star appearances and had First Team All-Pro honors three times (1963, 1964 & 1966). He would aid Kansas City in winning the AFL title in 1966 and 1969, the latter where he would win his only Super Bowl Ring (IV).
Arbanas retired after 1970, recording 3,101 Yards and 34 Touchdowns, both high numbers for someone who played his position in the 1960s.
In our latest Notinhalloffame.com list of those to consider for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Arbanas was ranked #254. Arbanas was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1973.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Fred Arbanas.