NFL Coach of the Year Predictions, Odds, Best Bets 2022

• The NFL COY Award is given to the coach who made the most of their roster
• Last year’s winner, Mike Vrabel, led his Titans to a 12-5 season and won the AFC South
• Three first-time NFL head coaches are on this list of COY Award favorites

NFL Coach of the Year Odds

Odds taken from DraftKings Sportsbook

It often takes a stellar regular season by an underrated NFL team for their head coach to earn the league’s annual Coach of the Year (COY) award, an honor given to the coach deemed to have had the most outstanding season given the talent they had at their disposal.

Last year’s winner, Mike Vrabel, led his Tennessee Titans to a 12-5 season as they topped the AFC South but then lost in the Divisional Playoff Round to the Super Bowl-bound Cincinnati Bengals, and now Brandon Staley of the LA Chargers is the favorite to win.

Three first-time NFL head coaches are the next on the list – the Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel, the Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett, and the Raiders’ Josh McDaniels, all experienced assistant coaches who finally have a shot to lead their own team and be NFL COY.

Good luck – win big!

Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers

This offseason, the Los Angeles Chargers have been getting a lot of buzz for the postseason potential of their roster, and at this point they are the fourth-ranked team in the AFC and the second-ranked team in their competitive division, a perfect spot for HC Brandon Staley.

The 39-year-old Staley will be in his second season of head coaching, a former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach who began his coaching career in 2009 at St. Thomas, his NFL run starting with the Chicago Bears in 2017 as their outside linebackers coach until 2018.

When it comes to the Chargers’ roster, Staley has a lot to work with including star QB Justin Herbert, talented WR Keenan Allen, tough to tackle RB Austin Ekeler, and star OLB Joey Bosa, a crew capable of making a run at the tough AFC West which would help Staley earn the COY.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

Last season, the San Francisco 49ers’ 7th ranked offense was coordinated by Mike McDaniel, a 39-year old NFL coach since 2005 who specializes on the offensive side of the ball, now the head coach of the Miami Dolphins who went 9-8 last season but failed to make the playoffs.

It will be McDaniel’s job to turn the Dolphins, who have been to the postseason just twice since 2002, back into a playoff team, a feat made more likely by the roster Miami’s front office has built, including QB Tua Tagovailoa and his new favorite target, deep threat WR Tyreek Hill.

Last season, the Dolphins ended up third in the AFC East, a division that has gotten more challenging now that even the New York Jets look like solid contenders, something first-time head coach McDaniel most likely sees as a welcome challenge in his inaugural year.

Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos

Many NFL insiders would argue that the Denver Broncos were a solid QB away from being a playoff-level team, and now they have veteran hurler Russell Wilson under center so new head coach Nathaniel Hackett is the perfect potential candidate for Coach of the Year in 2021.

Last year, Hackett was the coordinator for the Green Bay Packers’ top-10 offense, so he is used to working with a big-name QB like Aaron Rodgers, so Wilson should not intimidate him in his first season in charge, the two perhaps able to benefit from both being so new there together.

Hackett the COY candidate has been a football coach since 2003 and in the NFL since 2006, the 42-year old native of CA an experienced OC who should be able to upgrade the Broncos offensively, he and Wilson having WRs like Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy to work with.

Josh McDaniels, Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders had a challenging 2021, but even with an unfortunate change of head coach mid-season they still went 10-7 and earned a wildcard berth in the postseason, and now virtually that same roster will be at new HC Josh McDaniels’ disposal plus one important key.

That’s WR Davante Adams, arguably one of the best at his position in the league, a Fresno State alum just like QB Derek Carr is, the two having played together there and excited to be reunited under HC McDaniels, the former OC of the Super Bowl Winning New England Patriots.

With an upgraded Raiders roster and his first head coaching job now booked, McDaniels – a solid graduate of the Bill Belichick school of GOAT coaching – seems to have a solid chance of the 2021 COY Award if his Raiders can win the AFC West for the first time since 2002.

Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals

In his third year as an NFL head coach, the 39-year-old Zac Taylor led his Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl last season, a thrilling ride for a young team that features superstar QB Joe Burrow under center throwing to the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year WR Ja’Marr Chase.

Taylor started coaching at Texas A&M in 2008 as a GA and then he broke into the NFL as an assistant QB coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2012, a slow coaching ride up on the offensive side of the ball that has culminated in giving Bengals fan new hope to win a Lombardi Trophy.

The bad news is that Taylor’s Bengals are in the tough AFC North where it will not be easy to earn divisional wins, but the good news is they are filled with young talent – WR Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, TE Hayden Hurst, RB Joe Mixon – so Taylor has a good shot at COY honors.