Houston Texans first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans is one of the top Coach of the Year candidates after leading his team to a winning season and a possible playoff berth.
He’s done all of this with a first-time offensive play-caller in Bobby Slowik, a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud and one of the youngest overall rosters in the league. There have been peaks and valleys this season, but the Texans have nevertheless been one of the big surprise teams after they finished with the second-worst record in the NFL just a year ago.
Ryans isn’t the clear-cut favorite to win the award, though that may change if Houston makes the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Several other head coaches’re having similarly-successful of even more successful seasons given the respective circumstances.
Here are four other head coaches who could beat Ryans for the NFL COTY award.