Two-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells was on the list of semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame released Tuesday. Would his election pave the way for another two-time Super Bowl winning coach to make it to Canton? Or will Mike Shanahan’s legacy with the Washington Redskins ruin his chances to be immortalized among NFL greats?
This is the fourth time Parcells has been nominated, but he is considered a first-year candidate because of a new rule that requires coaches — like players — to be retired for five consecutive seasons.
Previously, coaches were eligible for consideration as soon as they retired, but Parcells kept unretiring and returned to coaching for the last time in 2003 with the Dallas Cowboys. He retired again in 2006.
Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants in 1987 and 1991. His resume is enhanced by the credit he receives for building winning teams in New England, which he took to the 1996 Super Bowl, and back in New York with the Jets, who he took to the AFC title game in 1998. His last stop in Dallas resulted in a 34-30 record over four years with two playoff appearances, both losses.
Certainly the results diminished with each stop he made. And some would argue his greatest success came with Bill Belichick as his defensive coordinator in New York and New England.
Still, the perception that Parcells won at every stop could land him a place in the Hall of Fame. It is a perception that separates him from other two-time Super Bowl winning coaches who are not enshrined in Canton: Tom Flores, George Seifert and Jimmy Johnson.
Shanahan has a chance to do the same thing in Washington — distinguish himself from the one-stop, two-time Super Bowl winning coaches.
He’s not off to a great start.
Shanahan’s critics point to the fact that he won his two Super Bowls with John Elway as his quarterback and that he never had the same success following Elway’s retirement.
In his first four years in Denver with Elway, Shanahan posted a 47-17 record and won two Super Bowls. After that, his teams went 91-69 with four playoff appearances — all losses.
Never mind that the Broncos didn’t win the Super Bowl in three tries before Shanahan got there or that Elway didn’t win until running back Terrell Davis — also a semifinalist for the Hall of Fame who was drafted by Shanahan — arrived in Denver.
The perception is that Shanahan’s Super Bowl success is because of Elway, not because of his coaching.
What Shanahan accomplishes here in Washington could prove it was the coach who deserved the credit for those two Super Bowl victories. Or it could mean the only way Mike Shanahan gets into Canton is if he buys a ticket.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
