All this week, we’ll be bringing you our awards for the 2005 NFL season:
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
MVP
Disappointment of the Year
Here are our picks for Coach of the Year. Coach of the Year:
Ryan McGowan: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Belichick won’t win this award this year, because this award typically goes to the coach of the team that improved its won-loss record the most from the year before. The Patriots, in contrast, had a worse record this year than their past two seasons, both finishing up at 17-2 with the Vince Lombardi Trophy coming back to Foxborough. But don’t be fooled; this year was Belichick’s finest coaching job yet. Look at all the adversity thrown at this team. The killer schedule over the first half of the year which saw them take on the Chargers, Broncos, Panthers, Steelers, Falcons, and Colts. The enormous target on their backs from being the two-time defending champs. The loss of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel to head coaching jobs. The injuries to so many key players, not the least of which were Rodney Harrison, Matt Light, Corey Dillon, Dan Koppen, Kevin Faulk, and basically the entire defensive backfield. Through it all, Belichick has the Patriots at 10-5, AFC East champs, and playing perhaps the best football in the league at just the right time. He has created an amazing culture of winning that has managed to sustain itself beyond injuries and the loss of key staff members. He is quite simply the best at what he does, and that is why he is my 2005 Coach of the Year. Runners-up: Lovie Smith, Marvin Lewis, Tony Dungy, and Nick Saban.
Teri Berg: Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
Wow, the job Lewis has done turning around the Bengals! Cincy went from a 2-win loser in 2002 to 8-8 in both 2003 and 2004, and this season his team took a giant leap forward to clinch 11 wins (so far), a division title and an impressive postseason seeding. The positive attitude and the culture of winning he has instilled in his players has worked wonders to help this team past their Bungles era and into a future that’s looking pretty bright. With so many respectable candidates for this award — Lovie Smith, Tony Dungy and Bill Belichick — I have to go with the guy who’s shown the most growth this season with the off-season moves he’s made and the most impressive and balanced turnaround of the regular season.
Vin Diec: Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears
Lovie Smith gets my vote not only because he turned a 5-11 team into a 11-4 contender in just the second year of his tenure but because he’s also made his players much better. The Bears go from 2 pro bowl bids to 6 this year with 5 players on defense. And even though Urlacher gets in on reputation every year, this year he actually deserved it. He is the defensive player of the year and the center of that defense. Lovie Smith should get some credit for this.
My runner up for Coach of the Year is Tony Dungy. And if the Colts win the Lombardi Trophy, he would be my first choice. The COY award usually goes to the coach that turns a team around the most. I think it’s equally impressive to get a team over the hump. After years of being in the Patriots shadow, the Colts can finally (?) say they are the best team in the league. Somehow Phil Jackson gets credit for pushing superstars and getting them over the hump so why not Tony Dungy? If the award vote was after the season, I think he wins it. (Yes, I’m picking the Colts this playoff season.)