The announcement of who is going to be in the 2026 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is set to come out next week, but it appears that one significant name will be left out of the class. ESPN’s Don Van Natta and Seth Wickersham reported Tuesday evening that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, on the ballot for the first time, did not receive the required 40 out of 50 votes to be elected.
Filed to ESPN: EXCLUSIVE: Bill Belichick is NOT a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The six-time Super Bowl winning head coach failed to get 40 of 50 HOF votes, sources say.
With @SethWickersham https://t.co/qWtUwJXEgj
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) January 27, 2026
Belichick (in case you needed to be reminded) is third all-time in regular season wins as a head coach with 302, and is the leader in playoff victories with 31. He is also the all-time leader in Super Bowl appearances as a head coach (9), Super Bowl wins as a head coach (6), was named to the NFL’s all-decade team in the 2000s and 2010s, was voted NFL coach of the year by the Associated Press three times, and was part of the league’s 100th anniversary team. Needless to say, many in sports media took to social media to express their outrage.
“There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer,” former Texans and Cardinals defensive ends and current CBS NFL anayst J.J. Watt said.
I can’t be reading this right.
This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.
There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. https://t.co/OXhL1Sd4FM
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 27, 2026
“The Disrespect to Coach Belichick is straight out IGNORANT! He’s arguably the BEST NFL COACH TO EVER COACH THE GAME,” Pro Football Hall of Famer, former NFL Network analyst, and current head coach at the University of Colorado Deion Sanders exclaimed.
The Disrespect to Coach Belichick is straight out IGNORANT! He’s arguably the BEST NFL COACH TO EVER COACH THE GAME! How quickly we forget the impact Coach Belichick made on all of us! @nfl WOW! #CoachPrime
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) January 28, 2026
“Bill Belichick could have cussed out my momma and I would have voted for him for the HOF,” former ESPN anchor and reporter Jemele Hill noted.
Bill Belichick could have cussed out my momma and I would have voted for him for the HOF. A bad look for the entire committee.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) January 28, 2026
“If Bill Belichick isn’t a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer then no coach is! I’ve seen some ridiculous arguments made for players and coaches to be Hall of Famers but this one should have been a no brainer,” ESPN analyst Ryan Clark said.
If Bill Belichick isn’t a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer then no coach is! I’ve seen some ridiculous arguments made for players and coaches to be Hall of Famers but this one should have been a no brainer. This level of pettiness and incompetence is extremely sad. No one reveres the… pic.twitter.com/36jypxx0Hj
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) January 28, 2026
“Belichick was the best NFL coach ever yesterday and that’s still true today and tomorrow,” The Ringer founder Bill Simmons said. “The truth is — sports Hall of Fames don’t matter nearly as much anymore because we’ve screwed all of them up.”
Belichick was the best NFL coach ever yesterday and that’s still true today and tomorrow.
The truth is — sports Hall of Fames don’t matter nearly as much anymore because we’ve screwed all of them up.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) January 28, 2026
