Former Detroit Lions head coach Buddy Parker has been named a finalist for the 2024 Hall of Fame class. Parker is the one coach/contributor candidate who made it through the Hall of Fame's coach/contributor committee to be considered for selection into the 2024 Hall of Fame class.

Parker beat out several other coach/contributor candidates including Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, and Robert Kraft. Parker needs 80% of the vote from full selection committee to make it into the 2024 class. Along with Parker, there will most likely be three senior players and five modern-era players inducted into next year's class.

Buddy Parker was initially a player in the NFL. He signed with the Detroit Lions after playing college football at North Texas and Centenary College. As a fullback, he helped the Lions win a title in 1935. After two seasons with the Lions, he was traded to the Chicago Cardinals where he played for six years.

Parker went on to become a co-coach for the Cardinals in 1949, but resigned after the move proved to be a failure. He joined the Lions as an assistant coach in 1950 and was promoted to head coach in 1950. As coach for the Lions, Parker led the team with quarterback Bobby Layne to two NFL championship wins and one loss to the Cleveland Browns. Following the 1956 season, Parker quit and became head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers until 1965 when he officially retired.

During his career, the coach was known for coming up with the two minute offense. “Supporters of Parker called him an innovator on both sides of the ball. With Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne his Lions teams unveiled what everyone now calls the two-minute offense. He 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 to craft one of the league’s best units of its era,” per the Pro Football Hall of Fame website.