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Usually, the National Football League's Coach of the Year honor adheres to a simple pattern. It frequently functions as a kind of apology. Our apologies we underestimated your franchise in our pre-campaign projections.

On paper, it's a clear-cut line: the coach who orchestrated the most dramatic resurgence wins the prize. However, it creates an annual debate about preseason outlooks and whether we're actually rewarding superior coaching or just the biggest shock.

But the current field is profoundly unique. The group of contenders is remarkably strong. It has been the campaign of turnarounds. The NFL has been chaotic, with reigning division winners fading and recent strugglers ascending together. Under an normal year, a coach guiding the his team to the summit of the conference would make him the stone-cold front-runner. Yet in this turbulent and entertaining season, he's up against several other outstanding coaches.

This is how the ideal ballot should be structured.

5) The Chicago Bears Coach, His Team, Their Record

Voters for Coach of the Year voters are fascinated by quarterbacks. They always have. A certain coach in 2017. Kevin Stefanski in 2020. A third in 2022. When you fix a franchise QB, you're halfway to winning the award.

The Bears' head coach hasn't just corrected his young quarterback; he's unleashed him. In the right system, the QB has been given the opportunity to demonstrate his rare ability. Since midseason onward, the Bears sit at fourth in offensive Expected Points Added per play. That's not a hot streak – it's consistent performance. With his guidance, the quarterback has become increasingly decisive, far less careless, and has eagerly submitted to the scheme rather than freelancing. It is an offense designed entirely in the coach's vision: a physical ground attack, a heavy dose of play-action passes and a creative passing attack that creates wide receiver targets consistently. The QB has taken advantage. And when clear throws weren't there, he's been capable to conjure big plays out of nothing.

The coach came to the Bears with a specific offensive philosophy. Virtually every gamble – overhauling the offensive line, utilizing the pass-catchers, turning the QB into a rhythm passer – has worked. That's rare for a first-year skipper. And it's even more uncommon still for a coach who walked into the organization with the level of pressure he did. For two straight cycles, he was the most sought-after name on the head coaching carousel. However when it comes to selecting a head coach, there are zero guarantees. Somehow, he has lived up to the hype – and even surpassed them. He's proven not just to be a scheme genius but the kind of culture builder that can breathe new life into an organization.

In a normal season, he would be the overwhelming choice. But the current is not a normal year!

Where his candidacy comes slightly into trouble is on the defensive side. The Bears currently rank in the bottom third in defensive efficiency. They are living on turnovers, and turnovers are notoriously fickle. Coaches can stress ball disruption, but nobody can guarantee it. He is on the ballot because the offense is real. He's not higher because luck is doing too much of the defense's heavy lifting. With a few breaks of the ball, the team would be two victories worse off. It's been an remarkable transformation, and the foundation is in place for sustained winning. But he falls short in this ranking.

4) Liam Coen, His Team, Their Record

Coen is in a similar spot to Johnson. He's a fellow rookie head coach who has masterminded a rapid turnaround. During the crucial final weeks of the year, he has Trevor Lawrence playing the most complete all-around football of his professional life. And he's also spearheaded the transformation of a defense that now ranks fifth in the NFL in Expected Points Added per play.

Even more impressively, Coen has mastered the intangibles aspects, which wasn't a certainty following his initial press conference appearances and some of his preseason moves.

Coen walked into the Jaguars with an uncommonly inexperienced coaching staff. In contrast to other coaches, who packed themselves with the ideal staff blend of youth and veteran savvy, he trusted newbies. From the head coach himself to coordinators to assistant coaches, the Jags are filled with rookies. That type of approach is exciting in theory, but frequently collapses in practice – as past failures are a cautionary tale – because everybody is learning a new job in real-time. Yet Coen has managed to bring everyone and all elements into sync.

After an early hot start, there was a risk that the season would veer off the track. A midseason collapse had the Jags stumbling again. That's usually when leaders panic and change too much. He did not. Rather, he streamlined things. Jacksonville stopped chasing explosive plays and started seeking reliable ones. Coen recentered the offense around his playmakers and the ground attack, and asked his QB to use his mobility more often.

The results are clear. The Jaguars have won multiple games consecutively and will be the AFC's No 3 seed. He receives the tiniest knock in the standings because he inherited a talented team, but he has demonstrated he can get the most out of that talent.

3) The Seattle Seahawks Coach, Seattle Seahawks, 13-3

Each Strong of the Year case has a hinge decision. For the Seahawks coach, it was his quarterback choice.

Parting ways from a incumbent, bringing in a new quarterback and pairing him with an innovative play-caller might have ended the campaign in October. Instead, it defined it. By the mid point of the year, the acquisition was an Most Valuable Player candidate. He has cooled off after that time, slipping to 23rd in EPA per pass attempt over the latter part of the season, placing him only one place ahead of peers.

Still