NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Actually, it’s been time. The worst part about this article is that even if it is successful in getting Dan Reeves into the Hall of Fame, we’ll never hear his speech. Dan Reeves passed away on January 1st, 2022 at age 77. He was almost twenty years removed from coaching. That’s almost four years longer than it took Bill Cowher to retire and be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s one of 17 coaches with over 200 coaching wins and out of those 17, he’s only 1 of those ten coaches to get his victories against NFL (or AAFC in the case of Paul Brown) competition. Of that list of 17 coaches, 12 of them have victories in the NFL. 8 of those coaches are in the Hall of Fame. The four exclusions are Andy Reid and Bill Belichick, both of whom are still active head coaches in the NFL and the other two are Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves. Unlike Schottenheimer, Reeves actually made it to a Super Bowl. In fact, Reeves made it to four but continues to get the short end of the stick. Here’s why he’s a Hall of Famer.
Why isn’t he? He has more victories than most Hall of Fame coaches. He helped mentor John Elway and provided the coaching that was the foundation for a Hall of Fame professional career. Craig Morton had his best years under Reeves which culminated in both NFL Comeback Player of the Year and AFC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 1977. 14 Pro Bowlers and 4 Hall of Famers were drafted and played their opening years under Reeves and he has 4 conference titles. He has a Super Bowl as a player and as a coach. He’s second All-Time in both Broncos and Falcons History in wins and took both franchises to Super Bowl appearances. Only six other coaches have taken multiple franchises to the Super Bowl and Reeves has more victories than four of those coaches.
Yes, Reeves doesn’t have a Super Bowl title but neither does Hall of Famers Bud Grant and Marv Levy, coaches with whom Reeves has more NFL victories then. All three men lost Super Bowls, all three men are tied at four Super Bowl appearances each. Reeves has 6 division titles which is tied with Levy as Grant has 11 but Reeves coached in a much harder division than either man. Reeves constantly had to go against Tom Flores’ Raiders and Don Coryell and his “Air Coryell” Chargers.
There’s no argument you could make as to why Dan Reeves isn’t a Hall of Fame coach. The goalposts keep getting pushed back for him while the “issues” towards his candidacy seem to disappear for others. He has met every benchmark, completed every task, has helped turn around two different franchises, and yet continues to be dismissed by the commission which garners football’s highest honor. This is part of a bigger issue of the Hall of Fame waiting too long to give people their flowers while they’re still alive. They waited till Tom Flores and Dick Vermeil were in their mid-eighties, waited until Hank Stram was 80, waited until 13 years after his death, and over 30 years after his NFL career had ended to induct George Allen. This is unacceptable and it needs to stop.
Dan Reeves is a Hall of Famer. Now it may be too late to hear his speech or to watch him kiss his bust but the Pro Football Hall of Fame can still make this right. Induct Dan Reeves, he deserves it.
