Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach of the New England Patriots, was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
The 73-year-old Belichick, who is currently the head coach at the University of North Carolina and won two other Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, reportedly did not receive the 40 votes needed for induction.
From The Athletic:
Belichick has 333 career wins (including the playoffs) as an NFL head coach. He is behind only legendary Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, who compiled 347 wins. Shula, a two-time Super Bowl champion, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, his first year of eligibility.
Belichick needed to receive at least 40 votes from a 50-person panel (80 percent) to gain enshrinement. As a coach, Belichick was grouped with one contributor finalist — who, this year, is Patriots owner Robert Kraft — and three senior finalists (players who have been eligible for more than 20 years): Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood. Among that group of five, each of the 50 selectors was asked to vote for three. The highest vote-getter gains enshrinement, along with up to two others who receive at least 40 votes. If none of the five candidates receives 80 percent of the vote, the finalist with the highest percentage is elected.
Belichick was selected from the coaches category this year over Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert and Mike Shanahan.
It's not uncommon for head coaches to have to wait for enshrinement in Canton. Only three have been elected in their first year of eligibility -- Shula, Tom Landry, and Chuck Noll.
That means that coaches such as Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Tom Coughlin, and Tom Flores -- all multiple Super Bowl winners -- did not gain entry on their first try, so Belichick is in good company.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Ex-New York Giants DC Bill Belichick snubbed by Pro Football Hall of Fame
