New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll has been named the 2022 Associated Press Coach of the Year.
The announcement was made at the NFL Honors Award Show on Thursday night, and it caps off an incredible and unexpected season for the first-time coach.
.@Giants head coach Brian Daboll wins Coach of the Year! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/8VePcysgG9
— NFL (@NFL) February 10, 2023
Daboll was hired last January not long after general manager Dave Gettleman “retired” and head coach Joe Judge was fired. He joined first-year general manager Joe Schoen as part of the new regime, each of them coming over from the Buffalo Bills.
The Giants went 9-7-1 during the regular season, far exceeding even the most optimistic expectations for the team, and punched their first ticket to the playoffs since 2016.
There, the Giants knocked off the 13-4 Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round, giving the organization their first playoff victory since Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 (the end of the 2011 regular season).
But Daboll’s greatest feat wasn’t winning with a limited roster, it was completely transforming the culture in East Rutherford.
After nearly a decade of losing and misery, the Giants organization seemed like a shell of its former, greater self. But from the moment Daboll arrived on scene, things appeared to be different. They felt different. And everyone in the building recognized it.
“He’s brought energy and spark, brought back life,” Barkley said this week. “To not just the players but to the whole facility, the whole area. . . not on Dabes but all of the coaches. Everyone who came in did a really good job.”
“He brought energy to the building, the staff, coaches, the players — everyone was juiced up and ready to go all season long. And on the field he just let players be themselves,” safety Julian Love said recently. “I think he let personalities shine through the play and as a first-year head coach, that’s tough to do.”
In addition to the AP award, Daboll was also previously named PFWA Coach of the Year and the 101 Awards NFC Coach of the Year.
