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While much of the focus is on player awards such as NFL MVP and Comeback Player of the Year, there’s also a major award for coaches: the NFL Coach of the Year Award.
Coaching awards can prove trickier to predict because there aren’t as many statistics available for coaches. Coaches also have a smaller impact on games.
Like many things in the NFL, it’s possible to make a futures bet on who will win Coach of the Year. The criteria for the award is a bit murky, so here’s what you need to know before considering a wager on a online sportsbook.
The NFL Coach of the Year award is typically awarded the week of the Super Bowl.
2024 NFL Coach of the Year Odds
Here are the coaches with the best odds to win the award for the 2024 season entering NFL Week 14.
NFL coaching odds from DraftKings Sportsbook and subject to change.
- Dan Campbell: +120
- Kevin O’Connell: +400
- Mike Tomlin: +400
- Sean Payton: +500
- Jim Harbaugh: +550
- Dan Quinn: +1200
- Sean McDermott: +1400
- Matt LaFleur: +1600
- Andy Reid: +2200
- Mike Macdonald: +2500
- Jonathan Gannon: +2500
- Todd Bowles: +4000
- Nick Sirianni: +4000
- Sean McVay: +10000
Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
NFL Coach of the Year History
The NFL Coach of the Year Award was first presented by the Associated Press in 1957. The inaugural winner was George Wilson, who led the Detroit Lions to an 8-4 record that year. The most recent winner is Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who won his second award in 2023.
Don Shula holds the record for most Coach of the Year wins. He received the award four times during his 33-year coaching career with all of his trophies coming from 1964-1972.
Chuck Knox and Bill Belichick are tied for second with three wins apiece. Belichick is still active, so there’s a chance he could catch Shula. He last won in 2010.
Thirteen coaches have won the award at least twice, but that’s become more challenging recently. Seven of the last eight recipients have been first-time winners, five of whom were under the age of 50.
While winning the award multiple times is possible, it’s rare to do so in consecutive seasons. Only three coaches have earned the award in back-to-back seasons, with Joe Gibbs the last qualifier in 1982-83. No coach has ever won the award three years in a row.
NFL Coach of the Year Criteria
The criteria for winning Coach of the Year lacks clear guidelines. The official wording is that the award goes to the “coach judged to have had the most outstanding season.”
“Outstanding” is subjective, so it’s challenging to predict what will sway the voting body.
The award sometimes goes to the coach with the best record. That was the case in 2019, when John Harbaugh led the Baltimore Ravens to the best record in the NFL (14-2).
Recently, the award tends to go to the coach who surpassed preseason expectations or helped turn a franchise around.
Accordingly, it’s common for a coach to win the award in his first year with a team if the team enjoys significant improvement.
Four of the last seven winners were in their first year with a new team, none of whom had the top record in the league that year.
That explains why it’s so rare for coaches to win the awards in consecutive seasons. If a team stays good, the coach doesn’t get credit for improving it.
For instance, Belichick won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots but only took home three Coach of the Year awards because they were consistently dominant.
As a result, it’s usually wise to bet on the head coach of a team that dramatically improved its record from the previous year, especially if that coach is in his first season with the team.
NFL Coach of the Year Winners
See below for the list of NFL Coach of the Year winners since 2000.
- 2023: Kevin Stefanski
- 2022: Brian Daboll
- 2021: Mike Vrabel
- 2020: Kevin Stefanski
- 2019: John Harbaugh
- 2018: Matt Nagy
- 2017: Sean McVay
- 2016: Jason Garrett
- 2015: Ron Rivera
- 2014: Bruce Arians
- 2013: Ron Rivera
- 2012: Bruce Arians
- 2011: Jim Harbaugh
- 2010: Bill Belichick
- 2009: Marvin Lewis
- 2008: Mike Smith
- 2007: Bill Belichick
- 2006: Sean Payton
- 2005: Lovie Smith
- 2004: Marty Schottenheimer
- 2003: Bill Belichick
- 2002: Andy Reid
- 2001: Dick Jauron
- 2000: Jim Haslett
