Seahawks coaches Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox are 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame candidates

On Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Blue Ribbon Committee named former Seattle Seahawks coaches Mike Holmgren and Chuck Knox as two of twelve coaching candidates for the 2025 class. Through a series of eliminations over the next several weeks, the list of 12 coaches will be chipped all the way down to one. That one coach will then be considered by the Hall of Fame's selection committee for enshrinement.

The other ten coaches on the list are Tom Coughlin, Jeff Fisher, Bill Arnsparger, Alex Gibbs, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, Richie Petitbon, Dan Reeves, and Clark Shaughnessy.

Mike Holmgren coached for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998 and the Seahawks from 1999 to 2008. Holmgren led the Packers to a Super Bowl title in 1997 with his guy Brett Favre before moving over to Seattle in 1999... where he eventually brought over his other guy Matt Hasselbeck. Helming Green Bay, Holmgren finished all seven seasons over .500 with two Super Bowl appearances and one win.

With Seattle, Holmgren took the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl ever in 2005 and kept the Seahawks perennially contending. The Seahawks won five division titles under Holmgren and had a winning record in seven of his ten seasons. Holmgren took part in drafting Steve Hutchinson, Shaun Alexander, Darrell Jackson, Marcus Trufant, and Lofa Tatupu, just to name a few. Holmgren was inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2021.

Chuck Knox, Ground Chuck (as he was known for favoring the rushing attack), came to coach the Seattle Seahawks in 1983. He immediately led the Seahawks to their first playoff appearance. Knox took the Seahawks to the playoffs on four separate occasions: 1983, 1984, 1987, and 1988. 1988 was the year that we won our first division title.

Before landing in Seattle, Knox was coaching the Bills. With the Bills, Knox took the team to the playoffs twice and won the AFC East once. Before the Bills, Knox began his head coaching career with the Los Angeles Rams , where he once took them to five straight NFC West titles.

Knox won the AP Coach of the Year award three times and was the first coach to take three separate teams to division titles. He was inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2005. Knox finished his coaching career 186-147-1 over 22 seasons. He never saw a Super Bowl as a head coach. A Knox induction would be posthumous, as he passed away in 2018.

A strong case could be made for both Holmgren and Knox to eventually make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But if you had to choose one to make it in this year, who would it be?