Daboll named coach of year
Sauce, Wilson sweep rookie awards
PHOENIX — Brian Daboll was named the NFL’s Associated Press Coach of the Year here on Thursday night for guiding the Giants to their first playoff berth since 2016 in his rookie year.
Daboll accepted the award at the NFL Honors awards ceremony in Arizona during the buildup to Eagles-Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.
Daboll took over a franchise that was 22-59 in the previous five seasons, buried by years of front-office mismanagement.
He led the Giants to a 9-7-1 record and made the playoffs. Then he defeated the Vikings on the road in the Wild Card round for the club’s first playoff win since the 2011 season.
Daboll (16 first place votes, 123 total votes) won a close race ahead of the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan (12, 100) and the Jaguars’ Doug Pederson (five, 75).
The Bills’ Sean McDermott (seven, 48) and the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni (six, 45) rounded out the top five.
Daboll’s Giants went only 1-5-1 in the NFC East including the postseason and 4-7-1 in their final 12 games.
But it did not undo the momentum of a 7-2 start that included a four-game winning streak over the Bears, Packers (in London), Ravens and Jaguars (road).
Daboll, a cigar aficionado, earned the right to light one more up on Thursday night in the desert.
Earlier in the night, Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and Gang Green wide receiver Garrett Wilson took home the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, making the Jets the third team in NFL history to win both (1967 Lions and 2017 Saints).
Gardner received 46 first-place votes to beat Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen.
Wilson garnered 18 firstplace votes, one fewer than Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III, but he received more second- and third-place votes. San Francisco’s Brock Purdy finished third. Wilson is the first Jets player to win the award.