Report: Bill Belichick not selected to Pro Football Hall of Fame in first year on ballot

Bill Belichick was not selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported. The eight-time Super Bowl champion coach did not receive 40 of the 50 possible votes needed for induction.

Belichick spent 24 seasons as the Patriots’ head coach, leading the franchise to six Super Bowls during that time. He departed after the 2023 season and later became the head coach at North Carolina, where he took over for Mack Brown in 2025.

Across his career as a head coach with the Patriots and assistant coach with the New York Giants, Belichick won eight Super Bowls. He became regarded as one of the top coaches of all-time, and 2026 marked his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Belichick was informed of the Hall of Fame’s decision last Friday and was “puzzled” and “disappointed” after failing to get 80% of the votes, ESPN reported. The full list of inductees is set to be announced next week ahead of Super Bowl LX.

The committee is largely made up of veteran reporters, as well as prominent figures such as Bill Polian and Tony Dungy. ESPN reported Polian was a key voice in the conversations around Belichick’s candidacy and suggested the voters “wait a year” before electing him.

Additionally, ESPN reported Spygate and Deflategate may have played roles in the voters’ decision. After learning of the decision, longtime voter Peter King – who didn’t cast a ballot this year – expressed his surprise while speaking with the network.

“Holy f—! Oh f—! … I’m very, very surprised,” King said.

On the whole, during his legendary coaching career, Belichick had a 302-165 overall record to go with a 31-13 mark in the postseason. His 302 regular-season wins put him third all-time behind George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328) on the all-time winningest coaches list. Counting the postseason, Belichick sits just behind Shula’s 347 total victories on the all-time list.

Bill Belichick was the lone coach finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, while Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a finalist as a contributor. Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig and former Pittsburgh Steelers defender L.C. Greenwood were the three “senior” finalists.

After leaving the Patriots, Belichick entered the college football game as a head coach for the first time. His debut season at North Carolina was an up-and-down go en route to a 4-8 overall record.