Bill Belichick seemed like a shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famer. 6 Super Bowl as head coach, and 2 as a defensive coordinator. So many, including me, were shocked to find out that he won't get in Hall this year. How is it that the man considered by many as the greatest coach of all time wasn't voted in?
There have seen several factors that have been brought up as to why.
The Post Tom Brady Narrative-This is interesting. For years many tried to attribute Tom Brady's success to the fact that he was coach by Bill Belichick. That narrative has turned around recently. People have looked at the fact that Belichick has a losing record as a head coach without Brady. Brady's Super Bowl win with Tampa Bay also added to the narrative. I don't think this is a good enough reason for him not to be voted in. Brady was not a one man team, he had great players around him and Belichick has to be given a lot of credit for that. Belichick also had some belief in Tom Brady, even if it took the Pats until the 6th round to draft him. Bill also has two rings as a defensive coordinator, so he is a defensive genius.
Robert Craft-It's no secret that Belichick and Robert Craft had a falling out. There is some speculation that voters may have felt like they had to choose one or the other to prevent both being inducted the same year.
SpyGate-DefelateGate-Here comes the controversy. SpyGate, and DeflateGate were mentioned in a discussion among voters. https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2026/01/28/sports-world-stunned-Bill-Belichick-snub-HOF/7201769601659/ Maybe some felt that they needed to send him a message, and make him pay for that. Though I wonder would it be just Belichick who would pay for it. I don't expect for Tom Brady not to get voted in on the first ballot due to DeflateGate.
Hopefully he'll get in next year.
