Buddy Parker selected as coach/contributor finalist for Hall of Fame's Class of 2024
It required several tie-breaker votes and almost four hours Tuesday, but the Pro Football Hall of Fame's contributor/coach committee finally selected a finalist for the Class of 2024.
Buddy Parker, who won two NFL championships coaching the Lions, has moved to the final stage in the selection process.
The Hall of Fame combined the coach and contributor categories for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes, and this marks the second consecutive year that a coach was the choice. Don Coryell earned election into Canton in the Class of 2023.
Parker emerged from a group of 12 finalists, and the Hall of Fame’s full 50-person selection committee will consider him for election when it meets early next year. Parker must receive at least 80 percent approval to earn election.
Parker died in 1982.
He spent 15 seasons coaching in the NFL, posting an overall record of 107-76-9 (.582 winning percentage). Parker’s Lions won 67 percent of their games in his six seasons, including both the 1952 and 1953 NFL Championship Games with back-to-back victories over the Browns.
The Lions sought to “three-peat” in 1954, but the Browns dominated 56-10. It was Parker’s only head-to-head loss against Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown in five meetings as the Lions’ coach.
The Lions also won the 1957 NFL title, largely with a roster Parker built, but he had departed Detroit for Pittsburgh. He coached the Steelers from 1957-64, posting four winning seasons and another .500 season in those eight years. In the preceding 22 seasons, the Steelers finished with a winning record only three times.
The Lions, with Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne, were the first to use the two-minute offense. Parker also developed or modified defensive alignments to play to the strengths of Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt and Hall of Fame defensive backs Jack Christiansen and Yale Lary.
The other semifinalists considered Tuesday were Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Robert Kraft, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr., Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Shanahan, Clark Shaughnessy, Lloyd Wells and John Wooten.
The Hall of Fame’s seniors committee will meet next week to determine its finalists for election to the Class of 2024. Ken Anderson, Maxie Baughan, Roger Craig, Randy Gradishar, Joe Jacoby, Albert Lewis, Steve McMichael, Eddie Meador, Art Powell, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor and Al Wistert are under consideration. Three will advance to the final ballot.
