The NFL has announced the finalists for the AP Coach of the Year. These awards are voted on before the playoffs, so those results don’t influence the results. The last (and only) time the Minnesota Vikings had a coach win was Bud Grant in 1969. Don Shula holds the record with 4 Coach of the Year awards. Let’s take a look at the 5 finalists.
Dan Campbell
Campbell lead what I would call the best regular season team in the NFL. The defeated the Minnesota Vikings twice. Campbell also dealt with more injuries than any other team in the league. His defense was a make shift group at the end and he held it together. I fault Campbell for playing so hard to the end of games when he was up big. It seemed to cost his team at the end.
Kevin O’Connell
O’Connell would be hands down my coach of the year. What he did with Sam Darnold is astounding. Credit where credit is due my friend. He is a QB coach and knows how to get the best out of them. Overall, he’s had one of the best records in NFL history to start his coaching career. KOC isn’t perfect. There are some end of half scenarios that leave you with your head scratching. CotY doesn’t have to be perfect. In the regular season this year, no one was better.
Sean Payton
Payton has rookie QB Bo Nix playing better than most thought possible. I still think Nix isn’t a long term solution, but have at it. To be honest, they would’ve missed the playoffs if their 2nd game against the Chiefs wasn’t meaningless. It was a nice surprise, but a 10-7 record and barely making the playoffs isn’t good enough.
Dan Quinn
Quinn hasn’t had as much talk for coach of the year as the NFCN coaches. He’s had a great year, but it seems most give Jayden Daniels more credit than Dan Quinn. DQ will always be remembered for blowing the Super Bowl unless he can finish off this playoff run. If this award included the playoffs, he’d win hands down this year. I’ll be rooting for him and I think they can pull off the upset on Sunday.
Andy Reid
Reid hasn’t won since 2002 with the Eagles. Typically speaking the award is given to the coach with the biggest surprise result or someone who has dealt with a lot of adversity. I don’t see any of that for Reid this year. Just a bunch of wins. He’s doing his job, but has no chance of winning.
The finalists for AP Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/IdWBbCWF4F
— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2025
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