Brian Daboll Wins AP Coach of the Year Honors

Plus, more Giants-related results from the annual AP-NFL Awards show.

Author:
The Giants Maven News Desk
Publish date:
Feb 9, 2023 9:57 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll has been named the 2022 Coach of the Year winner as voted on by the Associated Press.

Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Doug Pederson (Jaguars) were among those nominated for the award with Daboll.

Daboll, in his first season with the Giants, led a remarkable turnaround of the franchise, which a year ago had finished with a 4-13 record. New York posted a 9-7-1 record despite injuries and some roster deficiencies and qualified for their first playoff berth since 2016.

The five-game improvement from 2021 to 2022 is the largest in one season since the Giants jumped from six victories in 2015 to 11 in 2016.

Daboll also helped with modernizing the Giants offense. New York finished fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (148.2), fifth in rushing yards per play (4.84), and set a franchise record by scoring a rushing touchdown in each of the team's final 15 regular-season contests.

Daboll is the fifth coach in Giants history to lead the team to the playoffs in his debut season, joining Allie Sherman (1961), Dan Reeves (1993), Jim Fassel (1997), and Ben McAdoo (2016). (Earl Potteiger led the Giants to the 1927 NFL championship in the era before playoffs.)

Daboll, who was also named the Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America, becomes the fifth Giants head coach to take home the honor since the award was established in 1957. He joins Sherman (1961 and 1962), Bill Parcells (1986), Reeves (1993), and Fassel (1997) as previous winners while with the Giants.

In other award news, Giants outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux finished fourth in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Jets cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner took home the award.

Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka finished tenth and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale eighth in the Assistant Coach of the Year voting, the award going to former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who was recently named the new head coach of the Houston Texans.

Giants running back Saquon Barkley, who celebrated his 26th birthday, lost out on the Comeback Player of the Year honors to Seattle quarterback Geno Smith. Barkley received four votes, finishing third behind Smith and Christian McCaffrey.

Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates got two votes for Comeback Player of the Year.