Mike Shanahan will wait at least another year for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The winningest coach in Broncos history was passed over by a blue ribbon committee in charge of selecting a coaching candidate as a finalist for the 2025 class.
The Hall announced Tuesday that Mike Holmgren is the lone finalist for consideration by the full selection committee. Holmgren was picked over Shanahan, fellow former Denver coach Dan Reeves and six others.
Shanahan, of course, took over as Broncos head coach in 1995 and led the franchise to Super Bowl victories in 1997 and 1998. At the helm until 2008, Shanahan compiled a Broncos-record 138 regular-season victories.
He was fired following the 2008 season and then spent 2010-13 as the head coach in Washington, moving his career regular-season win total to 170.
In addition to Shanahan’s own coaching acumen — he is the only coach with back-to-back Super Bowl wins eligible for the Hall who hasn’t been inducted — his influence on offense continues to be felt widely around the NFL.
“About 65 percent of the league is running his offense,” former Broncos Pro Bowler Mark Schlereth told The Denver Post recently. “And it’s amazing to think of all the innovations that are directly credited to Mike.”
His direct coaching tree includes several sitting head coaches like his son, Kyle (San Francisco), Matt LaFleur (Green Bay), Sean McVay (L.A. Rams), Mike McDaniel (Miami) and Raheem Morris (Atlanta), other coordinators and play-callers as well as former Broncos head coach and Super Bowl 50 champion Gary Kubiak.
Holmgren won Super Bowl XXXI with Green Bay and then lost to Shanahan’s Broncos the following year. In a coaching career split between the Packers and Seattle, Holmgren compiled a 161-111 regular-season record and three Super Bowl appearances.
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