Tag: Coach of the Year

Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell wins NFL Coach of the Year Award

On Thursday night the NFL recognized it when they voted Kevin O’Connell the league’s coach of the year. 

The 2024 season for the Minnesota Vikings could have gone any way imaginable. From being projected to earn the top pick in the draft to winning 14 games is quite a stretch to overcome.

This season went well, and on Thursday night, the NFL recognized it by naming Kevin O’Connell the league’s coach of the year.

O’Connell did more than just win games. He had players at nearly every position have breakout years or overall productive ones. The biggest indication of how well he coached was what he was able to achieve for and with Sam Darnold.

The veteran quarterback went from journeyman to MVP candidate. The coaching job has Darnold set to be paid handsomely, and O’Connell is now in Minnesota for the long haul.

The Vikings coach beat out Lions coach Dan Campbell by 78 voting points for the award.

Broncos up for 10 awards at 2025 NFL Honors

The Broncos are up for 10 awards on NFL Honors tonight.

With the Super Bowl now just three days away, the league is set to honor some of the top performers from the 2024 NFL season on Thursday night.

NFL Honors, a two-hour awards show, will be held in New Orleans tonight with the game’s best players and coaches getting recognized. The Denver Broncos are candidates for 10 honors this year, including three major awards.

Broncos coach Sean Payton (Coach of the Year), quarterback Bo Nix (Offensive Rookie of the Year) and cornerback Pat Surtain (Defensive Player of the Year) are all finalists for major awards. View the full list of Denver’s nominees below.

Broncos potential awards on NFL Honors

  1. AP Defensive Player of the Year: Pat Surtain finalist
  2. AP Coach of the Year: Sean Payton nominated
  3. AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Bo Nix nominated
  4. Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Alex Singleton nominated
  5. Salute to Service Award: Keith Bishop nominated
  6. Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Jonathon Cooper nominated
  7. NFL Fan of the Year: Shelly Jenks nominated
  8. Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year: To be announced
  9. Celebrations of the Year: Finalists to be announced
  10. NFL Inspire Change Tribute: To be announced

NFL Honors will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Fox and NFL Network, but it will not air live in all time zones. Check your local listings for the broadcast time in your area. The awards show will be available to stream on FuboTV (try it free).

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Full list of awards announced during 2025 NFL Honors

Here is the full list of awards that will be announced during NFL Honors tonight.

The 2025 NFL Honors show will be held at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans on Thursday, Feb. 6.

NFL Honors will be hosted by Snoop Dogg with the show set to air live at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT (the program will not air live in all time zones). The show will be nationally televised on Fox and NFL Network and available to stream on FuboTV (try it free).

View the full list of the awards and honors that will be announced below.

NFL Honors 2025 awards

  • AP Most Valuable Player
  • AP Coach of the Year
  • AP Comeback Player of the Year
  • AP Offensive Player of the Year
  • AP Defensive Player of the Year
  • AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
  • AP Defensive Rookie of the Year
  • Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year
  • Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
  • NFL Inspire Change Tribute
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024
  • FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year
  • Salute to Service Award
  • NFL Latino Youth Honors
  • Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award
  • Deacon Jones Sack Leader Award
  • AP Assistant Coach of the Year
  • NFL Fan of the Year
  • NFL FLAG Players of the Year
  • Celebrations of the Year

The Denver Broncos have three nominees for major awards this season, including Defensive Player of the Year favorite Pat Surtain.

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Sean Payton is up for his second AP Coach of the Year award

Sean Payton was named AP Coach of the Year with the New Orleans Saints in 2006 and he’s a finalist for the award in 2024 with the Denver Broncos:

Zack Baun and Trey Hendrickson aren’t the only former members of the New Orleans Saints who are finalists for an Associated Press award. Former head coach Sean Payton, now with the Denver Broncos, is a finalist for Coach of the Year. He previously won this award with the Saints in 2006.

Payton led the Broncos to the playoffs in second year with the team. It was Denver’s first playoff berth since their 2015 Super Bowl victory.

Though it was only a two game improvement from Year 1, Payton and the Broncos still over achieved. Russell Wilson’s play was shaky in 2023, but the move to rookie Bo Nix was supposed to be a much slower transition.

The defense was the backbone of the team, while Nix exceeded expectations and is in the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Making the playoffs with a rookie at quarterback is the driving force of Payton’s resume for the award. He and Dan Quinn, a fellow finalist, are the only ones to achieve that feat this year.

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Vikings coaching staff well represented in NFL Award nominations

Two Minnesota Vikings coaches are finalists for the Associated Press’ NFL awards.

The Associated Press announced finalists for its eight NFL awards on Thursday. A few Minnesota Vikings coaches are included after leading the team to a surprise 14-3 record in 2024.

As expected, Kevin O’Connell is among five finalists for the 2024 AP Coach Of the Year award. The third-year head coach helped Sam Darnold revitalize his career and had the Vikings one win away from winning the NFC North and hold the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

This is the second time O’Connell has been a finalist for the award. He was a finalist in 2022 after leading the Vikings to a 13-4 record in his first season. However, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll won the award after a 9-8 record in his first season.

Brian Flores is among five 2024 Assistant Coach Of the Year Award finalists. The Vikings defense was one of the league’s best, ranking fifth in points allowed and leading the league with 24 interceptions. This was done with talented but new starters across the defense.

The award winners will be announced on Feb. 6 during the 14th annual NFL Honors ceremony. FOX and NFL Network will air the event live at 9 PM ET.

Sean Payton might be a better Coach of the Year candidate than you think

The Broncos were projected to max out at five wins with the NFL’s “worst” roster in 2024. Sean Payton instead took them to the playoffs.

The Associated Press announced five finalists for the 2024 NFL Coach of the Year award on Thursday and Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton made the list.

Payton is not considered the favorite to win the award, but there is a strong case to be made for him. The other candidates are Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions), Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings), Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders) and Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs).

One could argue that Payton did more with less.

(Keep in mind that these AP awards are voted on at the end of the regular season, so postseason results are not considered.)

This offseason, expectations for the Broncos were lower than they were for the Vikings or Commanders (and obviously lower than the Lions and Chiefs). Denver was given an over/under win total of just 5.5 wins.

Before the season, Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos’ roster as the worst in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Pro Football Network predicted Denver would clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft with a 3-14 record. Few, if any, national media outlets expected the Broncos to accomplish anything this season.

After moving on from veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, Payton took on the largest dead money salary cap hit in NFL history. Payton then used his first-round draft pick to select quarterback Bo Nix.

Despite being hindered by the salary cap and starting a rookie quarterback, Payton went 10-7 and clinched the team’s first playoff berth in nine years. Nobody believed in Denver going into the season, but Payton got his players to buy in.

“It’s funny — we kind of doubled what a lot of people thought we were going to win,” Nix said after the team’s regular season finale. “[That] goes to show that [there was] a lot of talk preseason, but you don’t have to be what people say you’re going to be.”

That sentiment was echoed by veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

“It’s so funny hearing all the things of, ‘The Broncos are going to win four games, and three games, and two games,'” Sutton said. “‘This, and this and that… Have a rookie quarterback, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘Man, they had no idea what we had in this locker room and what we have in this locker room.'” 

The “worst” roster in the league produced five All-Pros, the second-most in franchise history. Surely, coaching matters.

The Broncos exceeded everyone’s expectations, largely thanks to Payton’s management of the team. That sounds like a Coach of the Year.

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Commanders’ Dan Quinn named an AP Coach of the Year finalist

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was named a finalist for the AP Coach of the Year award.

Every year, the Associated Press and NFL determine which coaches have outperformed their counterparts enough to earn the prestigious Coach of the Year award. Earlier today, the AP released a list of head coaching and assistant head coaching finalists for this award, and Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn made the list.

Quinn is in his first season as the Commanders’ head coach, although it’s not his first time in the position. He came to notoriety as the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator, where he was credited with creating a Cover 3 defense that included the Legion of Boom secondary. After that, he was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and then the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys before landing in Washington.

This year, the Commanders were predicted to win just six games after winning just four in 2023. Expectations were low, and it took fans months to believe that this team was for real after decades of losing seasons. But here we are: The Commanders have won 14 games (two in the postseason) and are headed to the NFC Championship game for the first time in over thirty years.

Quinn is no stranger to the playoffs, having been part of the Seattle and Atlanta teams that went to the Super Bowl, and that experience is what is helping his team get through these playoffs. He should be a shoo-in for this award, but he does have some good company, so we’ll all have to wait and see what the powers that be decide.

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Dan Campbell among candidates for Coach of the Year

Lions head coach Dan Campbell is among five candidates up for this season’s Coach of the Year award.

When you win 15 games in a season as a head coach and earn the conference’s top seed, more often than not you’re going to be in contention for Coach of the Year. Sure enough, that is the case this season with Lions head coach Dan Campbell.

Campbell is among five finalists for this season’s award, as announced by the NFL Thursday.

The full list of finalists include:

  • Lions HC Dan Campbell
  • Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell
  • Broncos HC Sean Payton
  • Commanders HC Dan Quinn
  • Chiefs HC Andy Reid

Campbell is considered a favorite for this award due to his team not faltering throughout the season despite a plethora of injuries, including to star edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson back in Week 6. The Lions survived a duel with the Vikings that came down to the final game of the regular season to decide the division champion and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

That game may have also decided this award between Campbell and O’Connell. Votes have already been cast, so the Lions’ early exit from the playoffs won’t be factored into the equation.

The winner will be announced at NFL Honors on Thursday, February 6 during Super Bowl LIX week in New Orleans.

 

Chiefs HC Andy Reid wins 101 Awards AFC Coach of the Year

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid won the 101 Awards’ AFC Coach of the Year honor after leading Kansas City to a 15-2 record in the regular season.

On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that longtime head coach Andy Reid won the 101 Awards’ AFC Coach of the Year.

The 101 Awards were created in 1969 by Chiefs’ founder and American football visionary Lamar Hunt to honor the best players and coaches from the AFC and NFC, including Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year.

Reid won the award last year and has now been given his fifth Coach of the Year honor for his exceptional leadership in Kansas City.

The Chiefs lauded Reid for his latest accomplishment in a post on Twitter:

Though Reid hasn’t won the coveted Associated Press Coach of the Year award since 2002, his role in making Kansas City the epicenter of the football world can’t be overstated.

Stay tuned to see if Reid can lead the Chiefs to their third-consecutive Super Bowl appearance with a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

NFL Gameday Morning makes case for Kevin O’Connell as Coach of the Year

NFL Gameday Morning made its case for Kevin O’Connell to win the 2024 Coach Of the Year award.

The momentum for Kevin O’Connell to win the 2024 Coach Of the Year award continues. On NFL Gameday Morning, Steve Mariucci played the role of O’Connell in accepting the award during a hypothetical ceremony.

“I am truly honored and actually surprised [to receive] this award,” Marriuci said, as if he were O’Connell. “Because when you think about it, we were 7-10 last year, [and] didn’t make the playoffs.”

Mariuuci highlighted the improbability of the Vikings’ quick turnaround after moving on from Kirk Cousins. After signing Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy, Mariucci said that O’Connell and the Vikings would “rebuild around [the] rookie quarterback.”

The Vikings are 14-2 and Darnold was named to his first Pro Bowl this week. No one could have predicted this success going into the season. But it’s impossible to ignore what O’Connell has done to get the Vikings to this point.

“But you know what? This team [is] going for his 15th win tonight. So maybe I’m not so surprised about getting [this award].”

 

O’Connell is the clear frontrunner for the award heading into Sunday night’s game. While a loss to the Detroit Lions likely wouldn’t sway voters, a victory that clinches the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs would guarantee his win.

Vikings fans have recognized O’Connell’s brilliance since he arrived in 2022. Seeing the national media finally giving him the recognition he deserves is gratifying.