When your team goes 15-1 and wins the NFC title, you’re going to be a pretty tough candidate to beat when it comes to being the choice for coach of the year.
Voters for the Associated Press didn’t overthink things. Panthers coach Ron Rivera has been named the winner of the award at Saturday night’s NFL Honors ceremony in San Francisco.
It’s the second time in three years that Rivera has won the prize, although it looked like his career might be heading in another direction when the Panthers started the 2014 season with a 3-8-1 record. The Panthers have gone 22-2 since then, however, and a win on Sunday would mean that Rivera won Super Bowls as both a player (the 1985 Bears) and coach on teams that lost just one game on their way to the title.
Rivera had 36.5 votes from the 50 voters. Chiefs coach Andy Reid finished second with six nods and Texans coach Bill O’Brien tied Vikings coach Mike Zimmer for third with two votes apiece. Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and Patriots coach Bill Belichick also received votes.