Vic Fangio Being Disrespected by Odds to Win Coach of the Year

On the surface, one would assume that the NFL's Coach of the Year award is awarded to, well, the best coach of the year. But it's rarely that simple. Looking at the last five winners, each team would go on to win at least 11 games, and four of the five had finished under .500 the year prior.

Essentially, it seems like the award is handed to the NFL's "breakout team" of a given season. And there are few teams better suited for a 2020 breakout campaign than the Denver Broncos. However, Vic Fangio's odds to win the Coach of the Year award certainly don't reflect this team's potential, and they're actually a bit disrespectful to the second-year head coach.

NFL Coach of the Year Odds

Fangio is tied with Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores for the 13th-best odds to win the award at +2400, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. That puts him behind names like Kyle Shanahan, Andy Reid and John Harbaugh. All three helmed teams that won at least 12 games last year, and given this award's recent history, that much success can be disqualifying.

Coming off a 7-9 finish and a stellar offseason, Fangio is perfectly situated to win this award in Denver. Last season, Fangio fielded a defense that surrendered 19.8 points per game (PPG), good for the 10th-best mark in football. With Bradley Chubb returning from injury, and Jurrell Casey added to the defensive line, it's fair to expect that unit to be even better in 2020.

It was the offense that held Denver back in 2019, but the Broncos might have the league's most-improved skill-position group. The team added big-name players in Jerry Jeudy, Melvin Gordon and KJ Hamler. With second-year QB Drew Lock also poised to make a leap, it's difficult to imagine Denver finishing as the league's fifth-worst scoring offense again in 2020.

With the Broncos poised for a breakout campaign, Fangio has a real shot to win the 2020 Coach of the Year award, though his odds certainly don't reflect that.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.