Bill Parcells has worked for two Hall of Fame owners.
He also has a bust in Canton, Ohio for his merits as a coach.
The former Patriots sideline general has a pretty good idea about who’s worthy, and who isn’t when it comes to landing a spot in the NFL shrine.
After the Hall of Fame’s announcement last week, Parcells told MassLive he was glad to see both Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick among the finalists for enshrinement in 2026.
Now, the legendary coach is just hoping the voters don’t mess it up.
“Most of these voting things have wound up political, but you can’t dispute what they’ve accomplished,” Parcells said of Kraft and Belichick. “When you’ve accomplished more than anybody else, it would be pretty ludicrous if it didn’t result in them getting in there.”
If Kraft and Belichick receive votes from 80% of the Hall of Fame committee when it reconvenes in February to elect the Hall’s 2026 class, they will be inducted together next summer.
It’s also in the realm that just one of them will get in, while the other one continues to wait.
A third possibility?
Neither one will get in, although that seems like a long shot.
This is Belichick’s first year of eligibility. It wasn’t a surprise that he advanced from the committee that selects the lone coach to emerge as its finalist.
He is an eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach – six as head coach with the Patriots, two as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. His career win total (333 wins) is second all-time to Don Shula (347 wins).
When it comes to Belichick, who was on Parcells staff in New York and New England, the credentials seem obvious to the Tuna, even with two cheating scandals (Spygate, Deflategate) on the books.
Kraft?
He’s been in the mix for more than a decade, only to be passed over in part because of those scandals. This is the first time he’s gotten out of the sub-committee to become the nominee from the contributor category.
Beyond all the winning, hiring Belichick, and keeping the Patriots in New England, Kraft has played a key role on several NFL ownership committees.
He helped resolve the lockout in 2011, and as a member of the broadcast/media committee, which he has chaired for the past 18 years, has brokered deals worth over $100 billion dollars for the league.
Parcells, who worked for Wellington Mara and Jerry Jones, who are both enshrined, thinks Kraft is worthy of joining them.
“I think he should get in, don’t you?” Parcells asked incredulously, speaking about Kraft’s resume. “He’s very deserving. Look what the franchise has become.”
Since being announced as finalists, much of the talk surrounding Kraft and Belichick has centered around their contentious relationship since parting ways – Kraft has gone on record saying he fired Belichick – in January of 2024.
For many years, Parcells’ relationship with Kraft was similarly strained in wake of the Tuna plotting his departure to the Jets during Super Bowl week in 1997 with the Patriots taking on the Green Bay Packers.
But the two managed to mend fences prior to Parcells’ induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame in September.
With both Parcells and Kraft now 84, the two figured it was time to bury the hatchet.
Parcells is glad they did. He said he enjoyed his return to Foxborough for the Hall ceremony, spending time with Kraft and reliving the meaningful parts of their past.
“Everything’s good with us,” Parcells said of Kraft, adding: “I think it’ll be alright eventually (with Kraft and Belichick).”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 will be announced Feb. 5 during the “NFL Honors” show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and enshrined Aug. 8 in Canton.
