Parcells among Hall of Fame candidates

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CANTON, Ohio, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Coaches Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer were listed Wednesday among the 11 first-year candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The list released by Hall of Fame officials contained 103 players, coaches and contributors. Other first-timers now eligible for selection are running back Tiki Barber, quarterback Drew Bledsoe and wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

The three coaches are all among the 15 top winners in the history of the NFL. Schottenheimer won 205 games with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego; Parcells won 183 games with the New York Giants, New York Jets, New England and Dallas; and Cowher won 161 games, all with Pittsburgh.

Parcells led the Giants to Super Bowl titles in 1986 and 1990.

Cowher is No. 6 all time in wins with a single team -- trailing George Halas, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs and Bud Grant -- and led the Steelers to a Super Bowl win in 2006.

The first-time candidates will contend with those who were finalists last year, a group that includes running backs Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis, wide receivers Andre Reed, Tim Brown and Cris Carter and defensive linemen Chris Doleman, Charles Haley and Cortez Kennedy.

The Hall of Fame selection committee will choose 25 candidates as semifinalists, a group that will be announced in November.

Further balloting will cut that number to 17 and the class of 2012 will be chosen the day before the Super Bowl.