Update 2/5/2026: Mike Vrabel named NFL Coach of the Year, Josh McDaniels voted top assistant
The New England Patriots earned both coaching awards at this year’s NFL Honors ceremony. After offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took home Assistant Coach of the Year, head coach Mike Vrabel was honored as Coach of the Year.
The award is the second of Vrabel’s career after already winning it in 2021. He is now the third Patriots head coach earning the honor after Bill Parcells in 1994 and Bill Belichick in 2003, 2007 and 2010.
It’s an honor to be recognized amongst the great coaches of our league,” Vrabel said in a recorded message. “Ultimately my name will go on this award, but this award belongs to a building, belongs to a staff, and ultimately it belongs to the men in the locker room who believed when they couldn’t always see it and bought in when it wasn’t always easy.”
A three-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots as a linebacker, Vrabel started his coaching career at Ohio State and later spent time with the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns.
He returned to New England in January 2025 to succeed previous head coach Jerod Mayo. Under his leadership, the team underwent a massive overhaul and manufactured the biggest single-season turnaround in NFL history: after going 4-13 in 2024, it will be looking for its 18th and final victory in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
Original story 2/5/2026: Josh McDaniels voted NFL Assistant Coach of the Year
While he has his eyes on the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Josh McDaniels already earned some hardware leading up to Super Bowl LX.
On Thursday, the New England Patriots offensive coordinator was announced as this year’s AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year. The 49-year-old is the first member of the Patriots organization to win the award since its inception in 2014.
McDaniels originally arrived in New England as a personnel assistant in 2001. Five years later, after serving as a defensive assistant and quarterbacks coach, he was named the Patriots’ offensive coordinator under head coach Bill Belichick. He briefly left for unsuccessful stints as Denver Broncos head coach and St. Louis Rams OC, before returning to New England during the 2011 playoffs.
Resuming OC duties the following offseason, McDaniels and quarterback Tom Brady led the Patriot offense to its three most recent Super Bowl wins. His success with Brady and the work he did with then-rookie Mac Jones in 2021 set the stage for McDaniels to leave again in 2022 to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Three years later, he returned to Foxborough under new head coach Mike Vrabel. He has since rejuvenated the Patriots offense and helped sophomore Drake Maye develop into an MVP-caliber quarterback.
“Josh has done a fantastic job,” Vrabel said on Thursday. “Usually any coach’s success or recognition is going to come from the fact that the players executed, they played well and they did what was coached. And sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t, but I would be extremely excited and happy for Josh if he were to win, just like I would be for Stef[on Diggs], TreVeyon [Henderson], Drake and everybody else.”
