JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tom Coughlin will have to wait for his chance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Former Lions coach Raymond “Buddy” Parker earned a slot as a coach/contributor finalist for the 2024 Hall class on Wednesday, beating out a lengthy list of successful candidates which included the former Jaguars coach.
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Only one finalist from the coach/contributor category makes the cut annually and this one went to Parker. He led the Lions to back-to-back championships in 1952 and ‘53, beating the Paul Brown-led Cleveland Browns. Those titles came before the NFL-AFL merger in 1967 which led the way for the creation of the Super Bowl.
Parker will be enshrined if he receives at least 80% of the votes from the Hall’s 50-person selection committee next year.
Coughlin made the cut down to the final 12 finalists in the coaches/contributors category for the first time this year. Coughlin had been eligible for three years but had never even made the semifinalist list until this year.
Coughlin, the first coach in Jaguars history, took the expansion franchise to the AFC championship game in his second season and again in 1999. He had an unceremonious departure after the 2001 season and later returned to the franchise as an executive.
But Coughlin’s greatest success came with the Giants, where he won two Super Bowl titles. He went 170-150 in 20 seasons. Only one former Jaguars player has reached the Hall of Fame, left tackle Tony Boselli in 2022.
Among other candidate this year were Mike Holmgren, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Robert Kraft, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr., Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Shanahan, Clark Shaughnessy, Lloyd Wells and John Wooten.