The long HOF wait for Shanahan and Reeves will somehow go on

For Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves, the wait will continue.

Neither of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame coaches earned the sole coaches/contributors nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 class.

The Hall made the announcement on Wednesday that former Lions and Steelers head coach Buddy Parker has been selected as the finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2024.

Hindering their cause was the numbers game. The coaches/contributors pool produces just one annual nominee for the Hall of Fame. In the most recent class, the choice was former Chargers and Cardinals head coach Don Coryell.

Meanwhile, the seniors pool — comprised of players who have been retired for at least a quarter-century — yields up to three nominees. Former Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar is among the semifinalists for the class. If the Hall names him a finalist next week, his candidacy will pass to the wider Hall of Fame selection committee, which will vote up or down on his selection in January.

Reeves, who guided the Broncos from 1981 through 1992, remains the only head coach to guide teams to four Super Bowls to not earn Hall recognition. The other two coaches who guided four teams to the Super Bowl without a win — Bud Grant and Marv Levy — entered the Hall in 1994 and 2001, respectively. He took the Broncos to Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV, then eventually guided the Atlanta Falcons to Super Bowl XXXIII.

Of course, Reeves’ Falcons met Shanahan’s Broncos in that game. That ended in a 34-19 Broncos win that was the second half of back-to-back world championships.

Meanwhile, Shanahan — a former Reeves assistant – sees his case strengthen with the continued growth of branches on his coaching tree. With former assistants such as Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel blossoming as NFL head coaches, the elder Shanahan’s relevance to the game has never been more prevalent than today — even though his last game as head coach came with Washington in December 2013.

Recent inductions of coaches like Jimmy Johnson, Tom Flores, Dick Vermeil and Bill Cowher also helps Shanahan’s cause. His resume is comparable to — or in excess of — all of them.

The winningest coach in Broncos history, Shanahan helmed the team from 1995 until his dismissal after the 2008 season. Denver made the postseason seven times on his watch, including two runs of three-consecutive trips: 1996-98 and 2003-05.

Both Shanahan and Reeves have exceptional cases. But for now, their wait continues.

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