PHOENIX -- For the second straight year, Bears legendary return man Devin Hester was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame but was not chosen to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame class was announced Thursday night and included nine inductees. Hester wasn't one of them.

Linebacker Zach Thomas, defensive back Ronde Barber, offensive tackle Joe Thomas, edge rusher DeMarcus Ware, coach Don Coryell, linebacker Chuck Howley, defensive lineman Joe Klecko, and cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Ken Riley made the final cut for the class of 2023.

While Hester won't be receiving a gold jacket this year, former Bears special teams coach Dave Toub has no doubt his time will come.

“He did change the game. There’s no question he changed the game," Toub, who now coaches for the Kansas City Chiefs, told NBC Sports Chicago at Super Bowl Opening Night. "He changed the game so much that everybody had to have a returner, number one. Everybody had to have cover guys that could cover and tackle. The kickoff team had to change. You had guys playing kickoff who were big, couldn’t move, just straight-ahead guys. You had to put more athletic guys on the kickoff team. That was the end of O-line, D-line playing those positions. He also changed the wedge. The wedge was a dangerous play, but having him back there with the wedge, it was unfair.”

Hester played eight of his 11 seasons with the Bears. The most dangerous and prolific return man in NFL history, Hester holds NFL records for career return touchdowns (20), career punt return touchdowns (14), and total return touchdowns in a single season (six).

To Toub, who coached Hester for his entire career in Chicago, there has never been a more obvious choice for the Hall of Fame as a specialist.

“His personality. His work ethic. His strength," Toub told NBC Sports Chicago when asked what made Hester special. "That’s not the first thing you talk about. He could break a lot of tackles. He used to run through tackles. His vision. His anticipation. Like,  he would be looking this way, his eyes would be here, but he felt the guy here. He knew exactly when to cut, to make that perfect cut. Obviously, his hands. Good catcher of the ball.

"He had the total package. He was ahead of his time.”

Hester's marquee moment came in Super Bowl XLI when he took the opening kickoff back 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears an early lead over the Indianapolis Colts. With that 92-yard race to the end zone, Hester became the first player in NFL history to return the opening kickoff of a Super Bowl for a touchdown.

In the week leading up to the game, many wondered if the Colts would risk kicking the ball to Hester. But Toub knew what was coming.

"I told him Saturday night. I told him and the whole team. I said, 'They are going to kick it to you because of all those lights and everything. They are going to kick it right to you,'" Toub told NBC Sports Chicago. "I said, 'They aren't going to kick a touchback when all those lights and cameras are going off.' Sure enough, they kicked it right to him. He made them pay. It was awesome. Still gives me goosebumps."

A four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection, Hester's day in Canton will come. When it does, Toub will be there to celebrate with the player who changed his life.

“He’s meant everything to me," Toub told NBC Sports Chicago. "I design plays, but you have to have that guy. Players make coaches. Together, we did a lot of great things in Chicago.

“I designed every return but he ran them. He made me great. He made me great.”

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