Dan Campbell's second season as Lions head coach got the team back on track with a winning record, but his work won't end with NFL coach of the year honors.
Not this season, at least.
Brian Daboll, Doug Pederson, and Kyle Shanahan are the finalists for AP Coach of the Year award.
Daboll led the New York Giants to a 9-7-1 record in his first season as head coach.
Pederson guided the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 9-8 record and an AFC South title in his first year with the team.
Shanahan led the San Francisco 49ers to a 13-4 mark, including 5-0 down the stretch with third-string rookie quarterback Brock Purdy.
The Lions went 9-8, but missed out on the postseason. All three finalists for the award led their teams to the playoffs.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen are the finalists for AP Assistant Coach of the Year.
The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 9. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the start of the playoffs.
This was the first year for the AP’s new voting system. Voters chose a top 5 for MVP and top 3 for all other awards. For MVP, first-place were worth 10 points. Second through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.
For all the other awards, first-place votes equaled 5 points, second were 3 and third were 1.
