The Associated Press announced five finalists on Wednesday for its Coach of the Year award, as it usually does. The quintet of candidates—the Giants' Brian Daboll, the Bills' Sean McDermott, the Jaguars' Doug Pederson, the 49ers' Kyle Shanahan, and the Eagles' Nick Sirianni—are each deserving in their own right. Daboll and Pederson led amazing first-year turnarounds. Shanahan led a team down to its third-string quarterback to the the NFC championship, McDermott steered his squad through one of the most frightening injuries in NFL history and Sirianni piloted Philadelphia to a franchise-record 14 wins.
However, three other coaches can plausibly claim to have been snubbed for the league's most prestigious coaching award. Here's a look at who else could have slotted into the slate of AP Coach of the Year finalists.
Pete Carroll, Seahawks
