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The Associated Press announced five finalists for the 2024 NFL Coach of the Year award on Thursday and Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton made the list.
Payton is not considered the favorite to win the award, but there is a strong case to be made for him. The other candidates are Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions), Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings), Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders) and Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs).
One could argue that Payton did more with less.
(Keep in mind that these AP awards are voted on at the end of the regular season, so postseason results are not considered.)
This offseason, expectations for the Broncos were lower than they were for the Vikings or Commanders (and obviously lower than the Lions and Chiefs). Denver was given an over/under win total of just 5.5 wins.
Before the season, Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos’ roster as the worst in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Pro Football Network predicted Denver would clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft with a 3-14 record. Few, if any, national media outlets expected the Broncos to accomplish anything this season.
After moving on from veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, Payton took on the largest dead money salary cap hit in NFL history. Payton then used his first-round draft pick to select quarterback Bo Nix.
Despite being hindered by the salary cap and starting a rookie quarterback, Payton went 10-7 and clinched the team’s first playoff berth in nine years. Nobody believed in Denver going into the season, but Payton got his players to buy in.
“It’s funny — we kind of doubled what a lot of people thought we were going to win,” Nix said after the team’s regular season finale. “[That] goes to show that [there was] a lot of talk preseason, but you don’t have to be what people say you’re going to be.”
That sentiment was echoed by veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton.
“It’s so funny hearing all the things of, ‘The Broncos are going to win four games, and three games, and two games,’” Sutton said. “‘This, and this and that… Have a rookie quarterback, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘Man, they had no idea what we had in this locker room and what we have in this locker room.’”
The “worst” roster in the league produced five All-Pros, the second-most in franchise history. Surely, coaching matters.
The Broncos exceeded everyone’s expectations, largely thanks to Payton’s management of the team. That sounds like a Coach of the Year.