On Thursday, players and coaches received accolades at the 2022 NFL Honors. One of the most prestigious honors given is the illustrious Coach of the Year award. This year, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll took home the hardware.
Now, Daboll certainly had a strong case. He took a Giants franchise that has been lost in the desert almost every year since their Super Bowl XLVI victory back in the 2011 season. Except for one playoff appearance in 2016, the Giants have been among the worst teams in football. Under Daboll in his first year, they made the playoffs and upset the 13-win Vikings in the Wild Card round.
But the real winner should have been Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll was in a situation where the grand consensus was the Seahawks were going to be a bottom-five team this year. A team who would be in the running for the No. 1 overall pick. Instead, Seattle won nine games – the same amount as New York did – and made the playoffs.
While the Seahawks did not win their playoff game, you know who they did beat? The New York Giants, and rather handily I might add.
Oh, not to mention, this was a year when Seattle traded away their franchise quarterback in Russell Wilson. Sure, the Giants had Daniel Jones, but he was a former first round pick and still on his rookie deal. Seattle rolled the dice with Geno Smith, who many were probably shocked to learn he was still in the NFL. Instead, Smith, under Carroll’s tutelage, won Comeback Player of the Year.
In the end, both the Seahawks and New York had their seasons end with a blowout loss to a division rival who would go on to the NFC Championship. It isn’t much separating Daboll and Carroll, but the edge should have gone to the oldest coach in the league.
