Ricky Dimon
Pretty much every successful NFL team starts with a good coach. Bill Belichick, for example, has won 6 Super Bowls as a head coach. Andy Reid has won 3 of the last 6.
Interestingly, Reid has earned NFL Coach of the Year honors only once – and none in the last 20 years. However, he has been named the best coach by The Sporting News on 3 occasions. The last 5 AP Coach of the Year winners are Kevin Stefanski, Mike Vrabel, Brian Daboll, Stefanski again and most recently Kevin O’Connell.
This particular market is not easy to handicap. You never know how the voters are going to make their selections. Case in point: in our 2022 Coach of the Year predictions we had Nick Sirianni at +2000 and Reid at +4000. Sirianni took the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl and Reid won the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs despite losing his top wide receiver from the previous season. Did either one of them earn COY honors? Nope…. And Sirianni wasn’t even nominated!
Alas, here are the COY odds and my best bets for 2025 NFL Coach of the Year – and also check out our NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year picks and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year picks.
NFL Coach of the Year odds
Odds courtesy of Bet365 and available at time of publishing
Ben Johnson, Bears +650
Mike Vrabel, Patriots +750
Liam Coen, Jaguars +1000
Aaron Glenn, Jets +1300
Pete Carroll, Raiders +1400
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks +1400
Dave Canales, Panthers +1400
Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals +1400
Kyle Shanahan, 49ers +2000
Jim Harbaugh, Chargers +2000
Sean Payton, Broncos +2000
Shane Steichen, Colts +2700
Matt LaFleur, Packers +2200
Dan Campbell, Lions +2200
Shane Steichen, Colts +2700
Sean McVay, Rams +2700
Brian Callahan, Titans +2700
Raheem Morris, Falcons +3000
Kellen Morre, Saints, +3000
NFL Coach of the Year best bet: Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers (+2000)
First of all, I’m not overly inclined to bet on favorites in this market. The value just isn’t there – or when it is, it’s the aberration as opposed to the rule. Once you start approaching +1500 range or so, that is where I will start taking a long, hard look at the options. At +2000, Harbaugh has great value. I think the door is somewhat open in the AFC West. The Super Bowl maybe (maybe!) was the start of a decline in Kansas City, Denver is overrated in my opinion and I’m not high on Las Vegas. As for Los Angeles, it should boast a potent offensive attack led by Justin Herbert, Najee Harris and Ladd McConkey. Khalil Mack and the defense is good enough to hold up its end of the bargain. There is no reason why the Chargers can’t be extremely successful in 2025.
NFL Coach of the Year longshot play: Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons (+3000)
The Falcons haven’t been any good in recent years. In fact, they have not made the playoffs since 2017. When you are the head coach of a floundering franchise, you are going to curry favor with COY voters if you managed to turn things around. Almost certainly, 1 of 2 things is going to happen at the end of this season: Morris will get fired, or he will be in the Coach of the Year discussion. I’ll roll with the latter. As usual, the NFC South is going to stink. New Orleans is awful, Carolins is still rebuilding, and Tampa Bay really isn’t anything special. Atlanta boats a young, explosive offense that includes Michael Penix Jr., Bijan Robinson and Drake London. The Falcons spent 2 first-round draft picks on a defense that continues to be revamped. This team can overachieve – which isn’t even saying a lot given that expectations are generally low.
