It's been almost three years since Robert Kraft decided the Patriots needed a revamp, starting with moving on from head coach Bill Belichick. Although he seemed to make a mistake by choosing Jerod Mayo as his successor, things appear to be back on track in 2026, as Mike Vrabel continues to lead the team to success.
Much of that can be credited to Belichick, who coached Vrabel early in his career and showed him what kind of coach he could be. That's something you'd think the NFL would have recognized by now, especially since he's now the head coach at the University of North Carolina.
But last year proved the league is hesitant to honor the man who spent 49 seasons working with several NFL teams, most notably the Patriots.
Belichick was officially up for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, only to not receive the number of votes needed to be that year's nominee. It became a major controversy when a few voters said they couldn't cast their vote for him for bogus reasons, putting the Hall under fire and forcing major changes to the committee.
Ahead of the 2027 enshrinement, however, Belichick is one of five nominees for the coach category, alongside Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves, and Mike Shanahan.
The Coach Subcommittee has narrowed its list to five nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2027. https://t.co/470uoLXcHX pic.twitter.com/pJ8d3b5lN8
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) November 5, 2026
Everyone should have a rightful spot in the Hall of Fame, but the biggest takeaway is that this is Belichick's last shot to beat out Tom Coughlin at something, after the longtime Giants coach beat the Patriots in two unforgettable Super Bowl matchups.
Bill Belichick can beat Tom Coughlin once and for all with Hall of Fame enshrinement
Given what he accomplished during his incredible NFL career, Belichick should have been a no-brainer first-ballot Hall of Famer. If he wasn't, how could anyone else be, since no one else has accomplished anywhere near what he did?
That was the feeling after he didn't make the final cut last year, prompting several responses from current and former NFL coaches, players, and analysts.
Plenty of voters came under fire after trying to explain why they couldn't, in good conscience, vote for Belichick, with some citing the cheating allegations he faced as the main reason, despite how much he won in the years before and after they were made.
Because of the response, the Hall made major changes to who votes, how votes count, and more, giving Belichick his best chance possible to finally be enshrined in 2027. And it might be the best timing yet, since Coughlin is among the five candidates.
Coughlin spent 28 years working in the NFL, including 12 years as the Giants' head coach. He was in that role for Super Bowl XLII, taking down the undefeated Patriots in heartbreaking fashion, and Super Bowl XLVI, which unfortunately ended very similarly with an unbelievable catch.
The Patriots wouldn't win another Super Bowl until they defeated the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, and they'd win two more after that to tie the Steelers as the winningest franchise in NFL history.
But those two losses to the Giants always hovered over them, and still do to this day, and although Belichick helped lead the team to more Lombardi Trophies, being beaten twice by the Giants will forever haunt the head coach.
So being in the same finalist class for next year's Hall of Fame gives him one last shot to take down Coughlin, even if he eventually gets his own bust in the future. At the very least, it's one win over the longtime coach, since he can't rewind time and take those trophies away from Coughlin, and it's certainly something Patriots fans can get behind.
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