The NFL Coach of the Year Award will be highly contested this season.
There are several coaches in contention, from first-timers having great seasons to those battling adversity and some who are just coaching the best teams in the league.
But ESPN analyst and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe thinks one coach deserves the award the most – with one caveat.
Sharpe told Chad Johnson on “Nightcap” that Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans should win COTY if he leads his team to the playoffs this season.
“I think DeMeco Ryans should be in that running considering he’s doing this with a rookie quarterback,” Sharpe said. “But for me, if Houston makes the playoffs with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, you got to give it to DeMeco. Absolutely.”
DeMeco Ryans is @shannonsharpe‘s Coach of the Year if the Texans make playoffs pic.twitter.com/cp4SXXN0gX
— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) December 29, 2023
The Texans need some help if they want to make the postseason this year.
Houston sits just outside the playoff field in the No. 8 slot in the AFC but will face the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts in the final two weeks of the season.
Wins over both teams would almost assuredly mean a playoff spot for the Texans, as the Colts currently hold the No. 7 seed over Houston.
But the Texans lost to the Colts earlier this year in a 31-20 defeat.
Houston will get rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud back this week, though, which could shift the team’s chances in the next two weeks.
And if that happens, Ryans could be the favorite to take home COTY in just his first season at the helm of the Texans.
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