Minnesota Vikings Coaches

The Minnesota Vikings biggest coaching question of this offseason was whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores would be back. His return felt very much up in the air for a few weeks. His contract with the Vikings expired. He interviewed for the head coach vacancies of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. He even interviewed for the defensive coordinator role with the Washington Commanders. It was a tense couple of weeks. Finally, he signed a new contract to remain in Minnesota. The contract reportedly makes him the highest paid assistant coach in the league. It’s very much deserved. He’s also very much deserving of a head coach opportunity. The stupidity of the rest of the league is the Vikings gain. Since December, five coaches have departed for opportunities/potential opportunities elsewhere. 

Safeties coach Michael Hutchings - left for Cal DC job

Assistant Head Coach Mike Pettine - retired

Offensive Line coach Chris Kuper - contract expired

Secondary/Pass Game Coordinator Daronte Jones - left for Washington Commanders DC job

Defensive Line coach Marcus Dixon - contract expired/hired as Dallas Cowboys DL coach

On Saturday, the Vikings announced the hiring of three coaches:

Frank Smith - Assistant Head Coach

Gerald Alexander - Secondary/Pass Game Coordinator

Ryan Nielsen - Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator

The Vikings also announced the promotion of assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter to offensive line coach. 

Vikings-wise, Friday was a frustrating day. Saturday was a great day. I was thrilled with all three hires. My hope for the offensive line was a coach in the Kyle Shanahan/Mike McDaniel/Sean McVay/Matt LaFleur coaching pipeline. I’ve long envied the run games of those teams. The Vikings didn’t hire the offensive line coach from those systems. In Frank Smith, they hired Mike McDaniels offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. That works. Smith has an offensive line coaching background and, most importantly, brings an innovative run scheme. Kevin O’Connell needs some of that in his Vikings offense. Smith was a dream addition that I wasn’t sure could be had. As a productive offensive coordinator for four years, he was beyond the level of an offensive line coach. He was sure to move on to another offensive coordinator job or even a head coach opportunity. He did interview for the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator job. The Vikings made their way around that little issue by hiring him as assistant head coach. Gerald Alexander has been a dream Vikings coach since his 2017-19 run as Cal’s secondary coach. He’s an outstanding coach and outstanding replacement for Daronte Jones. As for the defensive line, I was hoping Marcus Dixon would return. Absent that, the Vikings hired an experienced and effective coach in Ryan Nielsen. He earned league-wide attention for his work with the New Orleans Saints defensive line under Sean Payton. That work put him on the Vikings radar and he interviewed for the defensive coordinator job that went to Brian Flores. Now, he’s working with Flores. Frank Smith is a great addition to the Vikings offense. Gerald Alexander and Ryan Nielsen are great additions to the defense. 

The Vikings likely aren’t done adding to the coaching staff. Assistants are needed on the offensive line and in the secondary. Those are two of the largest position groups on the team. The staff could also be further raided by teams with new head coaches. For now, here is the current coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Kevin O’Connell

Assistant Head Coach/Outside Linebackers: Frank Smith

Offensive Coordinator: Wes Phillips

Defensive Coordinator: Brian Flores

Special Teams Coordinator: Matt Daniels

Offense:

Quarterbacks: Josh McCown

Assistant Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Quarterbacks: Jordan Traylor

Senior Offensive Assistant: Chris O’Hara

Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator: Curtis Modkins

Receivers: Keenan McCardell

Assistant Receivers: Tony Sorrentino

Tight Ends/Pass Game Coodinator: Brian Angelichio

Offensive Line: Keith Carter

Assistant Offensive Line: ?

Pass Game Specialist/Game Management Coordinator: Ryan Cordell

Quality Control: Derron Montgomery

Offensive Assistant: Ben Ellefson

Assistant to the Head Coach: Henry Schneider IV

Defense:

Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator: Ryan Nielsen

Assistant Defensive Line: Imarjae Albury Sr.

Outside Linebackers: Thad Bogardus

Assistant Outside Linebackers: Patrick Hill

Inside Linebackers: Mike Siravo 

Defensive Backs/Pass Game Coordinator: Gerald Alexander

Defensive Backs Assistant: ?

Defensive Quality Control: Chenzo Funari

Defensive Assistant: Charlie Frye

Special Teams:

Assistant Special Teams: Dalmin Gibson

NFL Head Coach Churn Ends

It appears that the NFL’s Annual Head Coach Churn has come to an end. A week from the Super Bowl, the final two head coach vacancies were filled. The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly plan to hire Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak following his team’s Super Bowl obligations. The Arizona Cardinals announced the hiring of Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. So, the league has 10 new head coaches. Well, some are old coaches in new places. 

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

All but John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Robert Saleh, and Mike McCarthy are first-time NFL head coaches. Jeff Hafley had a four-year run as the head coach at Boston College. Todd Monken was the head coach at Southern Mississippi for a couple years. Jesse Minter, Joe Brady, Klint Kubiak, and Mike LaFleur will be running a team for the first time. 

It’s easy to single out Jesse Minter and Joe Brady as the coaches in the best situation to immediately succeed. Success in the NFL starts with the quarterback and the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills have an elite quarterback in Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, respectively. The Ravens are only two years removed from an AFC Championship appearance. The Bills are only a year removed from an AFC Championship appearance. Minter’s Ravens and Brady’s Bills will enter the 2026 season as serious AFC contenders.

Here’s a Flea Flicker ranking of the 10 head coach hires.

1.   Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

2.   New York Giants: John Harbaugh

3.   Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

4.   Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

5.   Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

6.   Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

7.   Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

8.   Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

9.   Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

10. Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Robert Saleh selection of Brian Dabol as his offensive coordinator bumped him up a couple spots. Saleh and Dabol are an intriguing defense-offense pairing. 

On the diversity front, this was a disappointing coaching churn. Robert Saleh is the only minority of the 10 new head coaches. All 10 teams were idiots for not hiring Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. It’s even worse that only two teams even interviewed him. The snowy white complexion of the new head coaches shouldn’t be a surprise. The focus is so often on offensive coaches in these searches. There were zero black offensive coordinators in the league last year. The Kansas City Chiefs bringing back Eric Bieniemy gives the league one black offensive coordinator, so far, for the 2026 season. Black defensive coordinators Brian Flores, Vance Joseph, Anthony Weaver, and Ejiro Evero received token attention in this year’s head coach searches. While Evero was reportedly a finalist for the Las Vegas Raiders job, teams might’ve brought in those four coaches simply for Rooney Rule requirements. The continued shunning of Flores is a great thing for the Vikings but he deserves another head coach opportunity. The lack of diversity among the NFL’s 32 head coaches appears to be a problem without end. There are few black offensive coaches in the pipeline. Promising young coaches Nate Scheelhasse, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator, and Jerrod Johnson, Houston Texans quarterback coach, could change that narrative in the coming years. Scheelhasse received some head coach attention. Johnson received some offensive coordinator attention. The presence of only two promising black coaches near the top of the offensive coaching pipeline is ludicrous. It must be tough to enter a pipeline with few opportunities available at the top of it. 

Congratulations and best of luck to the 10 new head coaches. 

Minnesota Vikings Coach Additions

On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. It wasn’t a great day. Firing a major player in the team-building architecture isn’t a good thing. As far as the league’s news cycle is concerned, it’s tough to follow that. Well, the Vikings followed a difficult day with a great day. At least, I see it as a great day. 

Every offseason brings a coaching churn within each of the NFL’s 32 teams. It’s an overhaul for the team’s that are bringing in a new head coach. It’s mostly coaching staff tweaks for the rest of the teams. The Vikings will be looking for a new general manager. They are set at head coach with Kevin O’Connell. As far as his coaching staff is concerned, the first and biggest question of the offseason was whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores was coming back. He’s deserving of a head coach opportunity. Of the 10 head coach vacancies this offseason, only the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers even interviewed him. Both teams hired other coaches. There’s a lot of stupidity across the league. Thankfully, that stupidity brought Flores back to Minnesota with a new contract. His return meant that Vikings secondary coach/pass game coordinator Daronte Jones was departing. He’s deserving of a coordinator opportunity. He found that opportunity with the Washington Commanders. The Vikings had already lost safeties coach Michael Hutchings to a defensive coordinator opportunity with Cal. The Vikings offensive line coach of the past four seasons, Chris Kuper didn’t have his contract renewed. A decade of offensive line issues continued under Kuper’s four-year watch. As a result, his departure wasn’t a surprise. The departure of Marcus Dixon under similar circumstances (expiring contract) might’ve been a surprise. His two-year run as the defensive line coach saw considerable improvement from his players. I believe that he was a coach the Vikings would’ve liked to keep. It appears that he has other plans. 

So, the Vikings had to find replacements for Chris Kuper, Daronte Jones, and Marcus Dixon. Since I expected the need for an offensive line coach and a defensive backs coach, I had a wish list. 

Frank Smith - offensive line 

Gerald Alexander - defensive backs

For offensive line, I hoped for a coach from the trees of some of the innovative run game coaches in the league. Specifically, I hoed for a coach that’s worked with Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, Sean McVay, etc. Frank Smith has been Mike McDaniel’s offensive coordinator since 2022. Prior to being the Miami Dolphins head coach, McDaniel was the run game schemster of Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers. My biggest concern with the Vikings possibly hiring Smith was whether he’d “settle” for an offensive line coaching role. He’s more at the level of offensive coordinator or head coach. He interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator position that just went to Sean Mannion. Perhaps that missed opportunity opened an opportunity with the Vikings. I’ve been a big fan of Gerald Alexander since his three-year run (2017-19) as Cal’s secondary coach. That run in Berkeley ended when Brian Flores, as the head coach in Miami, hired him as the Dolphins secondary coach. My personal witness of his terrific work at Cal and Flores’ connection with him made Alexander an easy coach for me to target. Alexander is an excellent football coach. As for the defensive line coach, I simply hoped that Marcus Dixon would return. 

After a rough Friday, the Vikings announced some coaching hires on Saturday. It was a great Saturday.

Frank Smith - Assistant Head Coach

Gerald Alexander - Defensive Backs Coach/Pass Game Coordinator

Ryan Nielsen - Defensive Line coach/Run Game Coordinator

The Vikings also announced that assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter was promoted to offensive line coach. He’s been the offensive line coach of the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets. He has the experience and is deserving of this role. The best thing about the Vikings offensive coach changes is the addition of Frank Smith and his run game schemes. Kevin O’Connell is terrific with the pass game. He needed some help with the run game. Smith will provide that help. The Vikings offense got better with these coaching changes. Gerald Alexander is an outstanding addition to the defensive coaching staff. At the start of this offseason, I had two coaching wishes. Most importantly, I wanted Brian Flores to stay. He deserves a head coach opportunity. Selfishly, I want him as the Vikings defensive coordinator for eternity. Secondly, I wanted the Vikings to hire Gerald Alexander. The unfortunate thing about his addition is that it would probably have to come with the loss of Daronte Jones. It did. The surprise of yesterday’s coaching news was the hiring of Ryan Nielsen. Since I hoped that Marcus Dixon would return, I didn’t really think about potential defensive line coaches. I’m not sure that Viking could’ve done better than Ryan Nielsen. He interviewed for the Vikings defensive coordinator job in 2023. Flores got the job in Minnesota but Nielsen got the defensive coordinator job with the Atlanta Falcons. He has terrific experience and results as a defensive coach, and specifically defensive line coach. 

The Minnesota Vikings roster of coaches might seem complete but I’m not sure that it is. I expect them to add an assistant defensive backs coach/safeties coach. I also expect the addition of an assistant offensive line coach. 

After a rough Friday, Saturday was kinda nice. Viking-wise. 

So, That Happened

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah started the week doing general manager stuff. He was in Mobile, Alabama for Senior Bowl practices. He was on the job. Yesterday, he was fired. 

Being a general manager in the NFL is a tough deal. In his four years as the Vikings GM, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the drafts didn’t load the roster with young talent. That’s a problem. As a result, the Vikings have relied heavily on free agency. The expensive veteran route is supposed to supplement a roster rather than dominate it. The Vikings have hit in free agency on his watch. Perhaps, that’s what got him the extension in the spring. In the end, I believe the disappointing drafts are what got him fired. And zero playoff wins. 

Talking heads and fans have had a riotous time criticizing the Vikings, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, for the Sam Darnold situation. They had him in 2024 and could’ve kept him 2025. Instead, the Vikings let him walk in free agency for a somewhat big deal with the Seattle Seahawks. J.J. McCarthy was selected with the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft to be the team’s franchise quarterback. The Vikings had a quarterback plan and they had to see it through. They had to see what they had in a promising quarterback on a rookie contract. I whole-heartedly agreed with the plan a year ago. Despite Darnold guiding the Seahawks to next week’s Super Bowl, I still agree with the plan now. While McCarthy had an up and down first season as the Vikings starting quarterback, I love his potential. At this moment, moving forward, I’m more optimistic about the upside of a 23-year old J.J. McCarthy than a 29-year old Sam Darnold. 

Ultimately, my belief as to why Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired means little. Moving forward, Vikings ownership decided that they’ll hold off on interviewing and hiring a new general manager until after the draft. This surprised some people. The timing of this firing is later than a team would like to be making a pivot on their general manager. With the Senior Bowl a day away from being behind us, teams are well into the process of free agency and the draft. A couple of weeks of interviews and teams are fast approaching the Combine. Until a new general manager is hired, Executive Vice President-Football Operations (Cap Wizard) Rob Brzezinski will oversee the process. Many pundits and fans have speculated whether Brzezinski might be a candidate for the permanent GM job. Personally, I believe that he’s too valuable as the Cap Wizard. Between now and the draft, I see Brzezinski as a unifier, a calming presence. He’s been a supremely respected presence for the Vikings since 1999. I see the scouts and coaches running the talent evaluation show. Brzezinski will simply oversee it. He isn’t a football talent evaluator. I expect that he’ll know his lane, advise if needed, break ties if he must. With Ryan Grigson and Demetrius Washington, there are two assistant general managers in the building. The former is a “football guy.” The latter is an “analytics guy.” The Vikings also have Ryan Monnens, Chisom Opara, Sam DeLuca, Jamal Stephenson, Mike Sholiton, and a host scouts. It’s not the least bit convenient or easy but I believe that it’s being handled well. Or, as well as it can be handled with the timing. 

Vikings ownership clearly decided that things had splintered with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the general manager. In that sense, it feels right to make a difficult decision now rather force things through a critical offseason. 

At moments like this, it’s easy to point angry fingers at the person that was fired. After all, all woes are clearly due to him. Right? I thank Kwesi for Jordan Addison, J.J. McCarthy, Dallas Turner, Will Reichard, Levi Drake Rodriguez, and Donovan Jackson, and a host of undrafted free agents. Under his watch, the Vikings have been the league’s best at mining the undrafted free agents. That’s something. 

The Annual Head Coaching Churn Continues

And then there were two. The offseason started with a robust 10 teams looking for a new head coach. Over the past couple weeks, eight of those teams have found their coach. Two remain. The Las Vegas Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals. 

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

Las Vegas Raiders: ?

Arizona Cardinals: ?

I believe that all of the teams that didn’t hire Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores are idiots. Only the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers even interviewed him. That’s crazy. I’m thankful for the idiocy. While I wish that there was much more diversity among the new head coaches, I get all of the hires except the Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy. The team that has had only three coaches over the past 57 years hired a coach that I believe they’ll have to fire within four years. Maybe Art Rooney II made a fine choice on an uninspiring old coach? I have many doubts. 

Anyway, here’s a guess at the two remaining head coach vacancies.

Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

Arizona Cardinals: Klint Kubiak

Both teams can’t hire Klint Kubiak! I have little doubt that Kubiak is going to get one of the remaining two jobs. The Raiders and Cardinals are two of the least appealing teams in the league. Raiders owner Marc Davis and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill are two of the worst owners in the league. I feel bad for any coach that has to deal with them. There are only 32 of these jobs and even the least appealing of them are desired. Kubiak is getting one of them. Best of luck. Since he can’t get both, here’s a real guess at the remaining vacancies. 

Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

It looks like another year of snowy white coaching hires. Hopefully, Anthony Weaver and/or Ejiro Evero gets one of these jobs. 

Minnesota Vikings Coaching Churn

The annual NFL coaching churn might be highlighted by the head coaches but there’s also an annual churn of coaches within each of the 32 teams. The Minnesota Vikings entered this offseason with one big coaching question. Will defensive coordinator Brian Flores finally get a much-deserved head coach opportunity? He interviewed for the head coach vacancies of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. Foolishly, both teams hired another coach. Before those decisions were made, Flores and the Vikings agreed to a contract extension. It was fantastic news and made even more fantastic when the Ravens and Steelers made their respective head coach mistakes. 

Brian Flores remaining in Minnesota was the team’s biggest offseason coaching question but it wasn’t the only one. Before the season even ended, safeties coach Michael Hutchings departed to the college ranks for a defensive coordinator opportunity with Cal. He’s a rising coach with a bright future. He’s ready for this opportunity. As a Cal alumnus and fan, I was thrilled with the move. As a Vikings fan, it’s a significant loss for the team. There will be an expected change on the offensive line. Chris Kuper has been coaching the offensive line since Kevin O’Connell was hired as head coach in 2022. The offensive line has struggled under Kuper’s coaching. That’s nothing new as the Vikings offensive line has struggled for more than a decade. His contract wasn’t renewed. The Vikings are also looking for a new defensive backs coach. Daronte Jones has had an interesting run with the Vikings as he coached for both Mike Zimmer and O’Connell. In between, he was the defensive coordinator at LSU. Jones recently had his responsibilities bumped to pass game coordinator. He was probably the top internal defensive coordinator candidate if Flores departed for a head coach opportunity. You can’t keep these promising coaches secret. Jones had some defensive coordinator interviews last year. He had even more this year. On Monday, he got the defensive coordinator job for the Washington Commanders. He’s from the Baltimore area and attended Morgan State. He’s going home and it’s a much-deserved opportunity. The remaining coach question for the Vikings is on defensive line. Defensive line coach Marcus Dixon became a free agent after the season. He interviewed for the defensive coordinator job with the Dallas Cowboys. That job was eventually filled by Philadelphia Eagles pass game coordinator Christian Parker. That might boost the return of Dixon. He’s been a very effective defensive line coach. Late-round and no-round players like Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and Elijah Williams have all emerged under Dixon’s coaching. The Vikings defense has been a team strength under Brian Flores. Daronte Jones, Michael Hutchings, and Marcus Dixon were a significant part of that. Jones and Hutchings have already been hired elsewhere. Dixon could still return. At best, the Vikings have two giant coaching vacancies on defense. 

After securing the return of Brian Flores, finding the right offensive line coach shoots to the top of the important decisions facing the Vikings. Assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter is certainly under consideration. Prior to coming to Minnesota last offseason, Carter was the offensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans (2018-22) and the offensive line coach/run game coordinator for the New York Jets (2023-24). That’s significant experience for an assistant offensive line coach. As for outside candidates, Frank Smith probably tops my wish list. He was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins under Mike McDaniels. They ran some of the most effective and interesting run blocking schemes in the league. The Vikings could use some of that. If Carter remains with the Vikings, I like the potential of a Frank Smith-Keith Carter coaching team. Other than Smith, I wouldn’t mind if the Vikings could pry Hank Fraley from the Detroit Lions. He got his NFL coaching start with the Vikings about a decade ago. Maybe, he’d like a return. More realistically, the coaches from teams with effective run schemes like the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, pretty much any team with a coach from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree would a good place to start. 

I can keep it simple with the defensive coaches the Vikings need and might need. My top choice, actually only choice, to replace Daronte Jones in the secondary is Gerald Alexander. Most recently, he was the defensive backs coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I first became aware of Alexander as a coach when he was Cal’s defensive backs coach from 2017-19. That three-year run started a stream of Golden Bears defensive backs into the NFL. Alexander has a connection to Brian Flores. As the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Flores “stole” Alexander from Cal in 2020. The two moved on to the Steelers in 2022 after Flores was fired by the Dolphins. As for the defensive line, I’m hoping that Marcus Dixon returns. He’s made an impact in his two years in Minnesota. If Dixon departs, I wouldn’t mind a Karl Dunbar return. He was the Vikings defensive line coach from 2006-11. Those were some terrific defensive lines. He’s been with the Steelers since 2018. The Vikings could fill the two defensive coaching needs with coaches that became available when Mike Tomlin stepped away from coaching. 

The Vikings coaching staff could be further raided by the 10 new head coaches around the league, as well as the 21 teams that didn’t need head coaches. Every year brings a coaching churn for all 32 teams. The Vikings thankfully cleared their biggest hurdle by retaining Brian Flores. Now, they have to find new position coaches. 

WTF!

Yesterday, news leaked that Bill Belichick didn’t hit the number of votes required to be a first-ballot entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the greatest coaches in the history of football, any sport really, didn’t do enough to satisfy, at least, 11 voters. WTF! The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 looked to be a loaded one. Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald are considered first ballot locks. Bill Belichick was supposed to be an even greater lock. The most Super Bowl wins. The most playoff wins. The third-most regular season wins. For five decades, Belichick had an unprecedented impact on the NFL. If there was ever a coaching resume for first-ballot induction, Bill Belichick had it. How did this happen? How could it happen? Few things seem real these days.

Mike Sando writes for the Athletic and is a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter. He took a swing at explaining how this idiocy might’ve happened. For the record, Sando voted for Belichick and saw his induction as a slam-dunk. First of all, Sando explained the two-year old rules the voters are supposed to follow. Coach finalist (Bill Belichick), Contributor finalist (Robert Kraft), and the three Senior finalists (Roger Craig, Ken Anderson, and L.C. Greenwood) are grouped together at this stage. The five finalists are competing for 1-3 spots. The 50 voters each pick three of the five. Between 1-3 make it to Canton. 40+ votes are needed. If three finalists hit 40, three are inducted. If the votes are distributed amongst the finalists such that no finalist hits 40 votes, the top vote-getter is the only one inducted. Those are the rules that were implemented in 2025. It was one of the reasons, the four-member 2025 Class was so small. 

Sando went on to explain some of the potential ways Bill Belichick might get fewer than 40 votes even when 40+ of the voters think he’s a Hall of Famer. Sando actually could’ve stopped here. If 40+ voters think he’s a Hall of Famer, we wouldn’t be doing this. Anyway, in Sando’s words:

Let’s say 4-5 voters who were strong advocates for specific senior players figured Belichick was going to make it regardless, so they funneled votes to competing candidates in hopes of boosting them over the 40-vote threshold.

Let’s say a few voters prioritized senior players on the thinking that Belichick will be back in the room next year, while the players on the ballot this year might disappear into the senior pool forever. 

Let’s say a few voters found Spygate/cheating disqualifying. 

Let’s say a few voters protested new rules making coaches eligible one year after retiring instead of five. 

Whatever the case, I would see this as a repudiation of the new voting rules implemented for 2025, not of Belichick or any candidate not making it. 

There will be changes to the process, I predict. 

I appreciate Mike Sando’s honesty and explanation. I also think that it’s all bullshit. All of the above examples show the voters either playing voting games or making some sort of protest. The voters are tasked with judging the best in the history of the game. Bill Belichick was one of the very best coaches football, any sport, has ever seen. Arguably, he was the best coach professional football has ever seen. Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Walsh might be the only other coaches in the argument. Only one won’t be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Brown was even inducted before he was done coaching. The waiting period was waived to get Lombardi in the year after his death. You only get one chance at being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Because of voter games, Belichick missed his one chance.

The Cheating?

Many of the long-time critics of Bill Belichick are apparently giddy with this ridiculous situation. Most of the critics have been critics out of jealousy. It’s common to see people jealous of those with success, especially unprecedented success. It’s true that the Patriots dominance was occasionally clouded by scandals. There were Spygates I and II. There was Deflategate. Although that last one was more on Tom Brady than Belichick. Is that going to keep Brady from being a first ballot Hall of Famer? Who knows? Anyway, the Patriots were accused and punished for videotaping opponents coaching signals during a game against the New York Jets in 2007. The Patriots were accused of videotaping something that nearly everyone in the stadium and many watching on television can see with their own eyes. Coaching signals! During a game! Former Dallas Cowboys coach and Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson has been outspoken in his support of Belichick. He said that many teams, including his, have videotaped opponents coaching signals. He even said that Howard Mudd gave him the idea. Mudd would go to work with Belichick critics Bill Polian and Tony Dungy in Indianapolis. Johnson also said that he didn’t get much from the effort. Deflategate? Come on! That’s a non-starter. It was a horseshit charge and an even worse investigation. Common sense and the scientific method tells you that you don’t start with a desired outcome and work out an investigation that meets that outcome. That’s what the NFL did. It didn’t work but the league still manufactured a crime and crafted a punishment. 

Pro Football Hall of Famer Al Davis often said that if you aren’t cheating you aren’t trying. The NFL has a long history of cheating. The NFL has shown an equally long history to forgive/forget. George Halas spent his entire career as coach and owner of the Chicago Bears working and bending the rules to his benefit. He was in the 1963 inaugural Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Curly Lambeau got the Green Bay Packers kicked out of the league for cheating during the team’s first year in the league. He was in the 1963 inaugural Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. NFL stewards Halas, Lambeau, Joe Carr, Bert Bell, Tim Mara, Art Rooney, and George Preston Marshall oversaw the banishment of blacks from their league for 15 years. All but Rooney were in the 1963 inaugural Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rooney made it to Canton in the second Class. Marshall was such an unrepentant racist that he named his team the Redskins and kept blacks off his teams until the federal government forced a change in 1962. For 30 of his 33 years as the team’s owner, Marshall kept the Redskins lilly white. That sort of racism wasn’t enough to keep him out of that inaugural Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Who knows what prompted at least 11 voters to not vote for Bill Belichick. I’ve long had issues with some of the Hall of Famer voters. All of those issues are with the way they’ve handled the league’s history, in particular the league’s long-ago history. Some of the voters have publicly stated that they’ve shut the door on any candidates that played/coached/contributed before their lifetime. Excuse me. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honors the league’s past. All of it. The voters that can’t do that shouldn’t have a vote. Now, some of the voters are showing that they can’t handle the league’s recent history. Bill Belichick’s last Super Bowl win was just seven years ago. 

Bill Belichick is a first ballot Hall of Famer in every way imaginable except the one that actually counts. The results of the voting are supposed to be a secret until the new Hall of Famers are introduced at NFL Honors. Even the voters don’t know. That’s why all the voters that spoke out yesterday were stunned by the news that leaked. I believe that this ridiculous news was leaked yesterday so that everyone wouldn’t be stunned by it next week. The shock probably won’t wear off over the next week but now it won’t overshadow (as much) the show of NFL Honors. The news of the night might now be a bit more about the new Hall of Famers than the one that isn’t.