Regardless of how much talent you have on your roster, your coaching situation better be good, or you won’t get far in the National Football League.
We’ve seen great coaches leading borderline mediocre teams to the postseason way too many times, as well as talented teams held back by poor decision-making and head-scratching play-calling.
That’s why the league does well in honoring the best coach of the season, although it’s often hard to choose the right criteria to make that kind of decision.
Should you vote for the best team’s coach? Or maybe for the one who made the most with the least amount of talent? What about the one who maximized his team’s potential? It could go either way.
With that in mind, the NFL recently revealed the five leading candidates for AP Coach of the Year: Philadelphia Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan, New York Giants’ Brian Daboll, Buffalo Bills’ Sean McDermott, and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Pederson.
Which HC will be named the 2022 AP Coach of the Year?
📺: #NFLHonors — Thursday, Feb. 9 at 9pm ET on NBC pic.twitter.com/mw8KIvDrDt
— NFL (@NFL) January 25, 2023
Notably, Sirianni had the best record in the league, although the Eagles were also arguably the most stacked team in the NFL.
Shanahan also had a plethora of talent, but the Niners managed to stay in contention despite losing their first two quarterbacks in the depth chart.
Daboll led the Giants to the playoffs with the same roster that Joe Judge had when they looked borderline amateur, so that deserves plenty of credit.
McDermott and the Bills fell flat when it mattered the most, but they were still consistent and dominant throughout the season.
Last but not least, Pederson managed to turn around the Jaguars’ losing culture and lead them to an unlikely Divisional title in just his first season on board.
Whoever they choose, it will be the right choice.
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