Every year, 32 men enter their name into the NFL Coach of the Year sweepstakes. Every year, 31 of them fall short. That’s because the only true way to correctly ascertain the deservingest recipient of all is through process of elimination. Although the headline is a bit of a spoiler (headlines: definitely overrated), let’s conduct an objective, untainted, bias-free experiment anyway, and see where it takes us.
Who automatically isn’t the 2018 NFL Coach of the Year? We know 17 men who aren’t — all the guys without winning records this season. Out are:
Arizona’s Steve Wilks*, Atlanta’s Dan Quinn, Buffalo’s Sean McDermott, Carolina’s Ron Rivera, Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis*, Cleveland’s Hue Jackson*, Denver’s Vance Joseph*, Detroit’s Matt Patricia, Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy*, Jacksonville’s Doug Marrone, Miami’s Adam Gase*, New York’s Pat Shurmur and Todd Bowles*, Oakland’s John Gruden, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, Tampa Bay’s Dirk Koetter* and Washington’s Jay Gruden*.