The Pro Football Hall of Fame is a hot topic right now. The 2026 Hall of Fame class is set to be announced in just a handful of days, but we already know Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches of all time, will not be inducted.

This news came as a shock to NFL fans across the globe. How could the guy with the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history not make the Hall of Fame? There have been some rumors swirling around as to why he won’t be inducted this year, but no matter the reasoning, it’s safe to say Belichick was snubbed.

This got us thinking, who else has been snubbed for the Hall of Fame? I went back and found 10 players and coaches who deserve to be forever enshrined in Canton.

HC Bill Belichick

As we’ve already briefly discussed, Bill Belichick absolutely deserves to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, he won’t be. Feel however you want about him and the New England Patriots dynasty, he has won six Super Bowls, nine conference championships, and 31 playoff games, all of which are the most of any coach in NFL history. He also ranks second in playoff games coached and total wins, as well as third in regular-season wins.

If that’s not a Hall of Fame resume, I don’t know what is. It sucks that some voters got upset about Spygate and Deflategate and ultimately left him off the list in 2026.

WR Reggie Wayne

Perhaps the biggest player snub is none other than Reggie Wayne. The former Indianapolis Colts receiver has been snubbed six times now and is once again a finalist in 2026. But this year’s class is loaded with talent, and if he didn’t get in any of the previous six years, I have a hard time seeing voters inducting him this year, even though he absolutely deserves it.

Over the course of his 14-year NFL career, Wayne caught 1,070 passes for 14,345 yards and 82 touchdowns. He ranks 10th all-time in receiving yards, 11th in receptions, and 31st in touchdowns. There are currently 31 receivers in the NFL Hall of Fame, and you don’t have the guy who ranks in the top-31 of every major category in there? Doesn’t make sense to me.

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QB Ken Anderson

Ken Anderson is probably the top quarterback who should be in the Hall of Fame, but isn’t. The former Cincinnati Bengals threw for 32,838 yards and 197 touchdowns in a very run-heavy era. He helped revolutionize the passing game, while winning an MVP in 1981, being named to the Pro Bowl four times, and leading the league in passer rating four times. He retired as a top-10 passer in pretty much every category and should be in the Hall of Fame someday.

WR Torry Holt

Torry Holt is another receiver who has been patiently awaiting his turn to get into the Hall of Fame, but has repeatedly been snubbed by voters. Holt played 11 years in the NFL, hauling in 920 passes for 13,382 yards and 74 touchdowns. He was a huge piece of one of the best offenses in NFL history, the Greatest Show on Turf, and ranks top-15 in receiving yards and top-30 in receptions.

Holt was one of the most dynamic receivers the league has ever seen and should make his way into Canton sometime soon. Like Wayne, he is also a finalist in 2026.

RB Roger Craig

Roger Craig truly changed the running back position. He wasn’t just a guy you hand it off to 20+ times a game and let him go to work on the ground. He was the first real receiving back in the NFL, and he was a trendsetter. In 1985, Craig became the first player in NFL history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a single season. On top of that, he was one of the best players on the San Francisco 49ers offense that won three Super Bowls in the 1980s.

Without Craig, the running back position could look a lot different than it does right now. He set the stage for guys like Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, and other receiving backs to be as valuable as they are.

LB Pat Swilling

Pat Swilling is one of the best linebackers in NFL history, and he doesn’t get brought up enough in Hall of Fame conversations. He was a large part of the New Orleans Saints’ linebacking corps known as the Dome Patrol, and has been named to the Saints Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame since his retirement.

In 12 years as a player, Swilling logged 470 tackles, 107.5 sacks, forced 12 fumbles, and picked off six passes. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and the 1992 Defensive Player of the Year. Swilling was one of the most dominant pass rushers of his generation, but has yet to see his name enshrined in Canton.

OG Jahri Evans

Jahri Evans is one of the best offensive guards in NFL history, and he absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. During his 12-year NFL career, Evans was named a First-Team All-Pro four times and received six Pro Bowl honors. He was a massive part of the Saints’ Super Bowl run in 2009, and kept Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers upright for over a decade. He was also named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.

2026 is Evans’ third year as a Hall of Fame finalist. He may not get in this year, but it feels like his time is coming.

CB Lester Hayes

Lester Hayes didn’t play in the NFL for long, just 10 years from 1977 to 1986, but he was one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL during that span. Over his 10-year career, Hayes picked off 39 passes, including 13 in 1980. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, a First-Team All-Pro, Defensive Player of the Year in 1980, and helped lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl titles in 1981 and 1984. Part of the reason he hasn’t been inducted is because he used stickum, which was banned after his 13-pick 1980 season, but either way, he was an elite cornerback who should receive more Hall of Fame love.

WR Steve Smith

Steve Smith is one of the best wide receivers to ever lace it up, and he absolutely deserves some Hall of Fame recognition. He spent 16 years in the league, two of which were cut short due to injury, and totaled 1,031 receptions, 14,731 yards, and 81 touchdowns. His numbers are nearly identical to Reggie Wayne’s, and he didn’t have Peyton Manning throwing him the football every year. If Wayne deserves to get in, Smith does too.

WR Hines Ward

Hines Ward is another receiver who has a very similar stat line to Smith, Holt, and Wayne. He played 14 years in the NFL and racked up exactly 1,000 catches for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns, and he did that while hardly playing early in his career. Hines helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win two Super Bowls in 2005 and 2008, where he totaled 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Ward would be the fourth of this bunch to get in if I had to rank them, but he still deserves recognition, considering he’s top-20 all-time in receptions and receiving touchdowns.

WR Anquan Bolden

Another receiver in that same tier as Ward, Holt, Wayne, and Smith is Anquan Boldin, who I believe is the most underrated of the four. Boldin burst onto the scene with 1,377 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, and he pretty much maintained that pace throughout his 14-year NFL career. He finished with 1,076 receptions for 13,779 yards and 82 touchdowns. He ranks 10th in receptions and 18th in receiving yards in NFL history, so like the other four above him, he deserves to be in Canton.

LB Clay Matthews Sr.

No, I’m not talking about former Packers linebacker Clay Matthews; I’m talking about his father, who was one of the best linebackers of his generation. Matthews played 19 years in the NFL and racked up 1,595 total tackles (9th all-time), 82.5 sacks, 24 forced fumbles, and 16 interceptions. He led the league in tackles for four years, while posting eight 100+ tackle seasons. He’s one of the best defenders in NFL history to not make it to Canton.

HC Mike Holmgren

Mike Holmgren is one of the best coaches to never make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As an offensive coordinator, he helped the 49ers win two Super Bowls before heading to Green Bay, where he was the head coach of the Packers for seven seasons and helped them make it to two Super Bowls with one win in 1996. A couple of years later, Holmgren took over as the Seahawks’ head coach and brought them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005. He would never win with Seattle, ending his coaching career with three rings, two as a coordinator and one as a head coach. It’s hard to make the Hall of Fame as a coach, but his resume is one of the best among non-Hall of Fame coaches.

HC Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan might not have the coaching record that Belichick and all these other guys have, but he is one of seven head coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls (the only other two not in the Hall of Fame are Belichick, who just became eligible this year, and Andy Reid, who is still coaching). He also revolutionized offenses with the “Shanahan Offense,” which utilizes zone blocking schemes and bootlegs.

On top of his two Super Bowl wins and his offensive prowess, Shanahan has one of the largest coaching trees in the NFL, with guys like Kyle Shanahan, Kevin Stefanski, Shane Steichen, Sean McVay, and others all being a product of his success in one way or another.

Shanahan was a semi-finalist for the 2026 Hall of Fame class, but was not named a finalist, so he will not be heading to Canton this year. But he should certainly be considered in the future.

HC Tom Coughlin

Tom Coughlin is another guy who doesn’t have the overall record, but he’s done something nobody else in NFL history can say they’ve done: beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl twice. On top of the success he had in New York, Coughlin took the newly-founded Jacksonville Jaguars to the playoffs four times in eight years, including two AFC Championship game appearances. He is the only coach in NFL history to appear in two teams’ Ring of Honor/Hall of Fame.

Sure, towards the end of his career, his teams weren’t great. But if you look at his early coaching career, there’s no denying he was one of the best in the business in the 1990s and early 2000s.