EXCLUSIVE: Ex-NFL star predicts Coach of the Year contenders and it doesn’t include Mike McDaniel
Coach of the Year is a prestigious award in the NFL. Coaching plays a huge role in how good a team is, so the top coach is often someone who has either turned a poor team around or guided a team to an incredible record.
There are a lot of candidates early on. Miami Dolphins' Mike McDaniel, New York Giants' Brian Daboll, New York Jets' Robert Saleh and many more names are worthy of consideration.
On the Ballfather podcast hosted by Sportskeeda, Ike Reese, a former NFL star, gave his picks for the prestigious award. They didn't include McDaniel, who many view as the favorite right now:
"The Giants and the Commanders, prior to the season, I don't think most people would even add close to the playoff race. So the Giants have actually been playing real good football this year. You got to give Brian Daboll a lot of credit and Nick Sirianni doesn't win Coach of the Year Brian Daboll is probably gonna win Coach of the Year."
Right now, Sirianni, McDaniel and Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell have better odds than Daboll, per VegasInsider.
Ike Reese believes three NFC East coaches are Coach of the Year candidates
Reese continued, adding Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera to the mix:
"And then Washington. You know, I'm a big fan of Ryan, that's my former linebacker coach, here in Philadelphia. So, you know, I whisper and say, I'm a Ron Rivera fan, because he's on a divisional team. So I certainly want to see him do well."
He believes Washington might sneak into the playoffs and give voters a big reason to name Ron Rivera the Coach of the Year. This would be his third career award:
"But like you said, What a 17 game schedule, and it's really those. I think the top three teams have kind of separated themselves and NFC is in there. But then there's about there's about six teams that are right there with each other. Right and Washington. Washington is right there with Tampa. San Francisco. Yeah, right there, right there with those things, and I think they have an easier scheduled stretch."
McDaniel has seven weeks left to impress Reese and other voters. With plenty of football remaining in the 2022 season, it's still anyone's to win.
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