Coach of the Year: John Harbaugh
This isn’t quite as big of a slam dunk but Harbaugh has a serious case to make for winning the Coach of the Year award this season.
For one, the Ravens weren’t expected to do very well, with most pundits figuring they’d struggle this season and be on the playoffs fence. In turn, Baltimore and Harbaugh flipped that script to a 14-2 record and a No. 1 seed, beating a good number of the playoff teams in the regular season to get there.
Secondly, the decision to completely redefine the offense into something the NFL hadn’t really done previously shouldn’t be forgotten. That was beyond a gutsy call to make and it clearly paid off as the Ravens were the top scoring offense and No. 2 in total yards, while breaking a 41-year old NFL record for rushing yards.
Thirdly, Harbaugh went hard into the analytics this season. Regardless of how you feel about that narrative, the NFL world has really taken to loving the idea of analytics and will likely continue to praise Harbaugh for his calls that were based on math and probability.
While Baltimore didn’t go the whole way, there’s little doubt Harbaugh was a large reason behind the Ravens’ unpredicted success this season. That should earn him an award.