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Former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren a semifinalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

Mike Holmgren arguably should already be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but this might just be his year.

The former Seattle Seahawks head coach is one of 29 semifinalists for the Class of 2023 under the coaches/contributors wing. Holmgren of course won the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers and returned to the big game the following season. In Seattle he won five division titles and guided the team to its first Super Bowl appearance, which I won’t remind you how it ended. If the result of that game was flipped, Holmgren would’ve been the first (and only) head coach to win Super Bowls with multiple teams, making his HOF candidacy undeniable. Instead, Bill Cowher has the HOF spot and Holmgren has to wait.

This section of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is divided into the seniors and coaches/contributors categories. Seniors players must have played their final game no later than the 1996 season, whereas coaches and contributors obviously don’t have as strict a guideline considering Mike Shanahan was coaching in the 2010s.

Here are the semifinalists in each wing:


Seniors Semifinalists

Ken Anderson

Maxie Baughan

Mark Clayton

Roger Craig

LaVern Dilweg

Randy Gradishar

Lester Hayes

Chris Hinton

Chuck Howley

Cecil Isbell

Joe Jacoby

Billie “White Shoes” Johnson

Mike Kenn

Joe Klecko

Bob Kuechenberg

George Kunz

Jim Marshall

Clay Matthews Jr.

Eddie Meador

Stanley Morgan

Tommy Nobis

Ken Riley

Sterling Sharpe

Otis Taylor

Everson Walls

Coaches/Contributors Semifinalists

K.S. “Bud” Adams Jr.

Roone Arledge

C.O. Brocato

Don Coryell

Otho Davis

Ralph Hay

Mike Holmgren

Frank “Bucko” Kilroy

Eddie Kotal

Robert Kraft

Rich McKay

John McVay

Art Modell

Clint Murchison Jr.

Buddy Parker

Carl Peterson

Dan Reeves

Lee Remmel

Art Rooney Jr.

Marty Schottenheimer

Jerry Seeman

Mike Shanahan

Clark Shaughnessy

Seymour Siwoff

Amy Trask

Jim Tunney

Jack Vainisi

Lloyd Wells

John Wooten


The respective selection committees will dwindle these lists down to 12 and 12 for the final stage of nomination. Up to three seniors will get selected for consideration as members of the Class of 2023, whereas just the one coach or contributor will be up for selection. We’ll know the seniors nominees on August 16th, followed by the coach/contributor nominee on August 23rd.

Let’s go Coach Holmgren!