According to the latest odds, Bill Belichick is the favorite to win NFL Coach of the Year in 2020 along with Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. Both boast 10-1 odds as one looks to thrive in his first season with Tom Brady and the other looks looks to do the same in his first season without Brady in almost 20 years.
Belichick has won Coach of the Year three times, one shy of Don Shula for the all-time record, but he hasn’t won the award since 2010. Belichick’s last second place finish came in 2016, where he lost out to Jason Garrett of the Cowboys.
The Patriots making the playoffs without Tom Brady would present an obvious narrative for voters to select Belichick for the award, but many are skeptical he’ll be able to pull it off. If he can find a way to do so, it’s hard to imagine how anyone else could take home the award for this season short of someone goes 16-0, 15-1 or a team really coming out of nowhere to have a great year. Any other scenario in which Belichick leads his team to the playoffs and loses out to a 12-4 Andy Reid or a 11-5 Frank Reich would be criminal.
Photo: (Barry Chin – Boston Globe)
