Why is Sirianni surprisingly low in Coach of the Year odds?

[time2rock]

Why is Sirianni surprisingly low in Coach of the Year odds?

 

When the football world woke up Monday morning with the Eagles officially cemented as a playoff team following a sluggish 2-5 start to the season, a number of sports talking heads started rolling out their "we were wrong about Nick Sirianni" takes.

Long gone are the jokes about his rough introductory press conference, or the riffs on his flower speech. Sirianni has shown in his first year at the helm that he clearly has a command on the Eagles' locker room, and has the ability to wring every ounce of talent from an average-at-best roster.

So... why is Sirianni not getting more respect in the race for Coach of the Year?

With one week to go in the regular season, here's a look at the 10 coaches with the best odds to win the award according to PointsBet, the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports:

• Matt LaFleur +155
• Zac Taylor +155
• Mike Vrabel +300
• Bill Belichick +3000
• Frank Reich +4000
• Nick Sirianni +4000
• Kliff Kingsbury +5000
• Sean McVay +7000
• Mike McCarthy +7000
• Andy Reid +10000

Hmm. I think the gulf between tied-for-first (+155) and tied-for-fifth (+4000) is a bit extreme considering how wide-open the NFL has been this year. There's no clear-cut choice for this award, just like there's not really a clear-cut choice for anything. Sirianni won't win, but I think he deserves more consideration than a distant tied-for-fifth.

Four more notes:

1. LaFleur is obviously having a great season, and seems to have figured out exactly how to make things work with Aaron Rodgers, but I think his success is more a product of simply getting out of his quarterback's way. We're all collectively impressed by his success in Green Bay because of how much Mike McCarthy bungled things with one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. I'm not saying LaFleur would be an undeserving candidate, but I think it's easy to overstate his "coaching" leading to the Packers' record.

2. Vrabel should be the leader, not in third. The Titans being in pole position in the AFC despite losing the most valuable non-QB player in the NFL, and also battling through notable injuries to their top two wide receivers, is one heck of a coaching job. Vrabel didn't just keep his team together and in line to reach the postseason; he helped them excel and potentially secure a first-round bye. That's insane. The Titans are getting healthy at the right time, and Vrabel has them set up beautifully.

3. Sirianni belongs in front of Reich. I know they've both brought their respective teams back from rough records to playoff contention, but I'm confident in saying the Eagles have less talent on their roster than Indianapolis has on its roster. Between the best running back in the league in Jonathan Taylor, the best interior offensive lineman in the league in Quenton Nelson, a more experienced (if not better) quarterback in Carson Wentz, and more weapons at wide receiver - not to mention defensive talent like Darius Leonard, DeForest Buckner and Kwity Paye - the Colts are simply more talented. Sirianni's job getting the Eagles to where they are is more impressive.

4. Mike McCarthy in the Top 10? Lol.

In any case, it's just not Sirianni's year to win. He can take solace in knowing that he's far exceeded expectations in his first year in charge, has a chance to win a playoff game as a rookie head coach, and in general has won over a large portion of the Eagles' fanbase in just 17 games.

Great start to the guy's time in Philly.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfl-coach-year-odds-have-eagles-nick-sirianni-surprisingly-low

[PoconoDon]

Coach of the year? I couldn't care less.

Multiple Super Bowl winning coach of the Philadelphia Eagles? I couldn't care more. In fact, as far as accolades go, it's the only one I wish for him.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I don't read too much in to whether he wins HC of the year or not. For him to even be in the mix shows that he's done a good job and he's led this football team to a pretty good year. That's progress from last year and hopefully is the start of a happy and successful combination.