And it has to be a playoff team.Ĭoach of the Year winners have averaged 12.27 wins since 1999. They don’t have to be the best team in the league, but they have to be close.
The teams that lost the most games to injury in 2021:ĭoes the winner have to coach a good team? Not because the coach has much control over it, but they’ll get credit for their team improving when it might have just been healthier. I also think games lost to injury is a stat to look at. Offense is much harder to influence and improve, so coaches do it less often. Then the defense falls apart the next year, but it doesn’t matter because the coach already won Coach of the Year (and hopefully cashed a bet for you). Defense is just much less predictable year-over-year, so a defense will make a huge jump one season, and the coach gets credit for it. I don’t think voters actually prefer defensive coaches.
Adversity: Mike Vrabel, Titans, 2021: Vrabel lost his best player in Derrick Henry and still led the Titans to the No.Adversity: Lose your best player and make the playoffs anyway.įifteen of the last 22 COTY winners won because their teams improved significantly.Good-to-great: Take your team from 10-6 to 14-2.
Improvement: Take your team from 5-11 to 11-5.There seem to be three main ways to win Coach of the Year: