Bill Cowher says Mike Shanahan belongs in Pro Football Hall of Fame

“The two toughest coaches I had the hardest time to prepare against [were] Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan,” Bill Cowher said.

When former Steelers coach Bill Cowher was named a Pro Football Hall of Famer in January, many fans and pundits pointed out that former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has a resume just as good — if not a better — than Cowher’s.

Shanahan won 170 games and went 2-0 in Super Bowls. Cowher won 149 games and went 1-1 in Super Bowls. If Cowher belongs in Canton, surely Shanahan does as well, right?

Cowher seems to agree with that logic.

“Mike Shanahan belongs in the Hall of Fame,’’ Cowher told KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis on Feb 1. “I’ve said if there’s two people I had a hard time — the two toughest coaches I had the hardest time to prepare against, Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan.”

Cowher said it was impossible to predict what Shanahan was going to call.

“He made you stay on your toes when you were trying to game plan against him,” Cowher said of Shanahan.

Last year, Ed Reed made the case for former safety Steve Atwater to make the Hall of Fame and Atwater got in this year. Perhaps Cowher, now as a Hall of Famer, will be able to help Shanahan get in as well.

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