Stefanski Moves Ahead In Coach Of The Year Betting Odds

• Kevin Stefanski has +140 odds to win the NFL CoY Award.
• Ron Rivera is right up there with him, with +150 odds.
• Brian Flores and Sean McDermott make up the last two realistic candidates, with +600 and +550 odds respectively.

LAS VEGAS - There are only a few games left in the NFL season, which means the races for various awards are coming into focus.

Of particular interest to NFL bettors are the odds for Coach of the Year, which are remarkably close going into the last few games of the season. Right now, the race is a dead heat between Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team and Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns.

However, there are many other contenders for the award, from Miami’s Brian Flores to Buffalo’s Sean McDermott.

Kevin Stefanski, +140

Stefanski is the coach of the Cleveland Browns and has led the Browns to their first playoff berth in almost two decades.

The Browns look like a reasonably good team, which for them is a huge improvement. It’s important to consider what Stefanski inherited with Cleveland - a team with a lot of talent that couldn’t convert that talent into wins.

When something like that is happening, it’s usually on the coaching staff.

This seems to have been true in Cleveland, where Stefanski replaced Freddie Kitchens, and the year-to-year difference was obvious.

The Browns have not been known for elite coaching, to put it nicely. They’ve employed Kitchens, Hue Jackson and Gregg Williams all within the last three years.

Stefanski has succeeded where those three have failed, however, and the Browns look like a real football team - they’re actually just good.

Ron Rivera, +150

Riverboat Ron moved from Carolina to Washington D.C., but he kept his coaching skills sharp in the move. Rivera has led the Washington Football team through a quagmire of poor QB play, repeated injuries and general lack of quality.

The Football Team does have the advantage of playing in the NFC East, but Rivera has gotten wins outside of the division as well.

Right now, Rivera has the Football Team in pole position in the atrocious NFC East, meaning this team could be hosting a first-round playoff game.

The team itself is not fantastic, sitting at 6-8, which makes Rivera a weaker candidate than Stefanski on the numbers alone. That said, he’s looking at a division win, while the Browns are still not there, due to their much harder division.

Wrapup

The Coach of the Year odds race looks like an exciting one, and though the odds boards have it as a two man race between Ron Rivera and Kevin Stefanski, the odds are shifting enough that it’s a fairly open contest.

Flores and McDermott are absolutely deserving underdogs, although once you get past them it starts to look a little dicier. However, football futures can change drastically based on results.

For example, Mike Tomlin was one of the favorites to win this award for much of the season, but the Steelers’ losing streak has put him more or less out of the running.

Overall, each of these four candidates has a real shot at winning the NFL’s Coach of the Year award for 2020-2021.