Latest news with #APAssistantCoachoftheYear
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NFL introducing Protector of the Year award to honor league's best offensive lineman
NFL introducing Protector of the Year award to honor league's best offensive lineman Show Caption Hide Caption NFL players can now partake in Olympic flag football Olympic flag football, which will make it's debut at the 2028 summer games, just got bumped up a level after the NFL agreed to let its players partake. Sports Pulse For the first time since 2016, the NFL is adding a new end-of-year award to its slate. NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent announced Wednesday the addition of a Protector of the Year award, which will recognize the league's best offensive lineman. Vincent credited Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins and former NFL tackle Andrew Whitworth for championing the cause of adding the award. According to ESPN's Brooke Pryor, "a panel that includes a number of former OL greats" will vote on the winner of the new annual award. The Protector of the Year will be the first new award introduced to the end-of-year NFL Honors show since the Offensive Line of the Year award the league introduced in 2016 – before discontinuing it in 2018. TUSH PUSH: NFL fails to ban the Philadelphia Eagles' QB sneak play at league meetings The league's other most recently introduced awards at its annual show were the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award, which started in 2014, and the Art Rooney Award, which also started in 2014, recognizing a player for his outstanding sportsmanship. Dawkins doesn't only deserve credit for pushing the idea – he may also be the man who coined the new award's name. In late January, after the NFL announced the finalists for last year's NFL Honors, Dawkins stumped for a version of the award for the men in the trenches. Dion Dawkins believes there should be a Lineman of the Year award: 'I'm going to make sure this gets done before I'm done playing.' #Bills #BillsMafia — alex brasky (@alexbrasky) January 23, 2025 "Offensive linemen don't have awards for being great," he said at the time. "There's not a 'Protector of the Year' award." And now, just a few months later, there is.
USA Today
08-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Andy Reid names Bears' Ben Johnson one of biggest play-calling rivals
Andy Reid names Bears' Ben Johnson one of biggest play-calling rivals Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is preparing for his fifth Super Bowl since 2019, and he continues to separate himself in the pack of elite coaches in NFL history. With very few coaches able to compare to Reid's resume, there doesn't feel to be many rival competitions with him, but the Chiefs head coach feels there are three coaches who are his biggest play-calling rivals are, and one of them was new Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson. Speaking to the media just days before Super Bowl LIX, which will see the Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles for the second time in three years, Reid named his three biggest play-calling rivals. Outside of Johnson, Reid named legendary six-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick and current Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as the three coaches who challenge him the most. "I've enjoyed watching the Lions this year, and the job that their offensive coordinator did there and now he's the head coach in Chicago," Reid said. Before becoming the Bears head coach, Johnson thrived as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, even winning the AP Assistant Coach of the Year for the work he did in leading Detroit to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The 2025 season will be the first for Johnson as a head coach, so it'll be intriguing to watch how he competes among the best coaches in the league, and what he'll do with the Bears offense.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Vikings' Kevin O'Connell earns Coach of the Year after guiding Minnesota to 14-win season
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell has been named the Associated Press Coach of the Year during Thursday night's NFL Honors program in New Orleans. In his third season as Minnesota's coach, O'Connell guided the Vikings to a 14-3 record. With new additions in quarterback Sam Darnold and running back Aaron Jones added to the fold to join wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, O'Connell guided the team to a 5-0 start. After two losses over a five-day stretch in October, the Vikings racked up nine wins in a row. Minnesota stayed in the hunt for the NFC North title and No. 1 seed in the NFC up until the final week before losing the last game of the regular season to the Detroit Lions. GO DEEPER 'Make the complex simple' and adapt on the fly: How Kevin O'Connell leads electric Vikings Minnesota's 14 wins were the tied for the third-most in the league with the Philadelphia Eagles and trailed only the 15-win Lions and Kansas City Chiefs. The victory total was also the best mark in Vikings team history in 26 seasons. Two weeks ago, the 39-year-old coach inked a multi-year extension. In three seasons, O'Connell has compiled a 34-17 regular season record and is one of only two coaches since 1950 — George Seifert is the other — to have multiple 13-win seasons in a three-year span with different starting quarterbacks. Advertisement 'Kevin is exactly who we believed him to be when we named him as our head coach — an innovative play caller, an excellent communicator and a strong leader who motivates and connects with his players,' Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf said when announcing the contract extension. O'Connell topped finalists Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions), Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs), Sean Payton (Denver Broncos) and Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders) for the award. O'Connell received 25 of the 50 first-place votes and was no lower than third on a ballot. Minnesota had two other finalists at the NFL Honors. Darnold was nominated for AP Comeback Player of the Year and finished third behind the winner — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and the runner-up, Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores was a finalist for AP Assistant Coach of the Year, but finished second to Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. GO DEEPER Vikings' Kevin O'Connell leans on unlikely source for guidance: Hall of Famer Bill Cowher The Vikings entered the 2024 season with low expectations. Oddsmakers listed Minnesota's over-under at around 6 1/2 wins. There was uncertainty at quarterback. The Vikings were also navigating Khyree Jackson's tragic passing over the summer. O'Connell's leadership not only kept the Vikings afloat, but it also helped the organization thrive amid adversity. Darnold produced a career year with O'Connell calling the plays, and the Vikings won 14 games. No statistic does more justice to what Minnesota accomplished under O'Connell this season than this one: O'Connell became the first NFL coach since at least 1950 to win 14 games in a season with a quarterback who was in his first season with the team. The Los Angeles Rams bounced the Vikings in the wild-card round, and Minnesota collapsed down the stretch. That the Vikings were even relevant in those final two games against the Lions and Rams is a testament to the job O'Connell did. — Alec Lewis, Vikings beat writer
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ben Johnson wins AP Assistant Coach of the Year
Ben Johnson is taking home some hardware from New Orleans for his work this season. The former offensive coordinator for the Lions won the award for Assistant Coach of the Year at the NFL Honors Thursday. Johnson received 29 first-place votes. 2024 Lions OC Ben Johnson wins Assistant Coach of the Year!📺: #NFLHonors on FOX & NFLN📱: Stream on @NFLPlus — NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2025 Johnson led the Lions to the No. 2 ranked offense during the season behind only the Baltimore Ravens. They were the only two teams to average at least 400 yards per game during the regular season. Johnson has since taken over as the new head coach of the Chicago Bears but he will always be remembered as a key contributor to the Lions' turnaround and helping the Lions win 15 games this season. Johnson beat out his former fellow assistant coach Aaron Glenn, who is now head coach of the New York Jets. Also up for the award were Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Ben Johnson wins AP Assistant Coach of the Year
