Ben Johnson? Coen? Shanahan? Vrabel? 'FOX NFL Sunday' Crew Debates Coach of the Year
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The 2025 NFL season has seen new blood enter the Super Bowl mix, but which head coach has done the best job with his respective team?
What they're saying:
Terry Bradshaw thinks that Jacksonville Jaguars first-year head coach Liam Coen deserves 2025 NFL Coach of the Year honors.
"I think what he's done is just simply amazing down there with that young quarterback [Trevor Lawrence]," Bradshaw said about Coen on this week's "FOX NFL Sunday." "Go back to Tampa Bay, when he was the offensive coordinator there and what he did with Baker Mayfield. … Then, you look at the guy he has now [Lawrence]. The job he has done in Jacksonville is nothing short of fantastic."
After reaching the AFC divisional round in 2022, Jacksonville missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and brought in Coen as its new head coach to replace Doug Pederson. This season, the Jaguars are atop the AFC South at 11-4.
Another impressive turnaround? The Chicago Bears, who are 11-4, have clinched the playoffs for the first time in five years and just won the NFC North for the first time since 2018. Michael Strahan thinks their new head coach, former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, deserves the esteemed coaching honor.
"No one's done a better job, in my opinion, than Ben Johnson there in Chicago," Strahan said. "From worst to first. When you bring in a new coach, it's usually like, 'OK, let's change the offensive culture or the defensive culture, this or that.' He's changed everything, literally everything.
"And if you want to see the impact that he has on the team, look at the team that he left, look at the Detroit Lions. They're nowhere near what they were. You look at the Chicago Bears, they're everything that Detroit was last year. He took [2024 No. 1 overall pick] Caleb Williams, who everyone said, ‘This guy’s a bust. He's not worth it,' now this guy is only trending up."
The San Francisco 49ers are no stranger to the postseason, but after missing the playoffs last season and losing several stars to injury this season — most notably DE Nick Bosa and LB Fred Warner — and also not getting back wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk from a torn ACL, the deck was stacked against the 49ers. Yet, they're 11-4 and still have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
"I think it [Coach of the Year] goes to Kyle Shanahan, especially if he wins his division [NFC West], which is the hardest division in football," Rob Gronkowski said. "He has dealt with more injuries than any other team this year. His two star players on the defensive side of the ball went down in Bosa and Fred Warner, and they figured it out. They're not great on defense, but they figured it out. And also, on the offensive side of the ball, he has won five games with his backup quarterback, Mac Jones. George Kittle was out for a little bit, as well, one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
"It just shows the brilliant football mind that coach Kyle Shanahan has, and if he gets the No. 1 seed and wins that division, he 100 percent deserves Coach of the Year."
Worst-to-first: Chicago Bears clinch NFC North division title Saturday night with Packers' loss
The Chicago Bears have officially completed a worst-to-first turnaround. With the Packers' loss to the Ravens, they've won the NFC North.
The New England Patriots won just four games in Bill Belichick's last season as head coach (2023) and four games in their first season without him (2024). This season? They're in first place in the AFC North at 12-3, second-year quarterback Drake Maye is an MVP candidate and the Patriots are a legitimate AFC contender under new head coach and former three-time Super Bowl champion Mike Vrabel.
Howie Long thinks that New England's success this season speaks directly to Vrabel.
"I'm going to say Mike Vrabel," Long said when asked who should be Coach of the Year. "For an organization that was in a bit of a free-fall, I think to maximize the talent of Drake Maye and put an emphasis on protection, bringing back Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator, I think that was a big key. I think it's accountability. It's a plan. It's tough love. You see him embracing players coming back in the locker room after games.
"Yeah, it's the weakest schedule in the league, but you got to win football games, and they've done that at a real record pace."