Rams' Sean McVay Won't Win NFL 'Coach of The Year' (And He's Fine With It)
If the NFL's "Coach of the Year'' award went to the best coach?
Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams would be a perennial contender.
He did win it once, having been named NFL Coach of the Year for orchestrating the Rams’ jump from 4-12 in 2016 to 11-5 in 2017.
And that's how it works: Not the "best coach''; the "coach who surprises voters with his team's performance.''
And at this point, nothing McVay does, with this edition of the defending Super Bowl champ Rams, is going to shock the world.
Therefore, according to Tipico Sportsbook, McVay’s odds to win Coach of the Year are +2000. There are 19 coaches with the same or better odds - including seven guys with better odds. Those seven are largely relatively new coaches in places where a big turnaround is possible - think first-year coach Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins and first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett of the Denver Broncos.
Those two clubs failed to make the playoffs last year. They have a chance to fix that this year. And if they do? Their coaches will get credit for it.
There's a reason Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots doesn't win Coach of the Year every year - even as most of his peers would concede that he's the best in the biz: He's expected to be good. (Belichick has, for the record, won the award three times.)
McVay isn't quite approaching Belichick's level. But he's driven the Rams to two Super Bowls in the last four years, and he's the overseer of a loaded roster that won't get "extra credit'' if it succeeds.
It is supposed to succeed.
And we're sure McVay will agree, wins are more important than credit.
