McDermott is the winner here for the second year in a row after leading the bills to their first AFC East title since 1995 with the best record (11-3) for any team whose opponent’s winning percentage is over 0.500. He received 7.5 votes to beat Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski (6.5) and Miami’s Brian Flores (6). “He’s easy to overlook because they’ve been such a smooth, progressive program,” an NFC team manager said of McDermott, who is now 36-26 with three playoffs in four seasons. “But I think he still needs to get credit for a team that had not been in the playoffs for a very long time, had not won a division for a very long time and just won a division that has been a monopoly for 20 years. ” Despite the challenges associated with COVID-19, which shut down NFL facilities and wiped out offseason practices and preseason games, Stefanski has turned the Browns around in his first season as head coach. They are 10-4 and finish their first playoff bid since 2002; The NFL’s other four first-year buses total 20-36. “Off the field is probably the place where he’s done the best,” said another director. “The fact that it was a quarantine (but he) quickly changed the whole culture. Everyone has bought in. I just think he’s such a refreshing change from what they had and he gets it and he has a good staff They’re not doing things just to do them – there’s always a reason. “Flores also has the Dolphins in the AFC playoff picture in his second season after somehow winning five games with a bare-rooster in 2019. “What he does with that team is really impressive,” said a third director. “Defensively, they have exceeded expectations. I think they have talent there, but they play above their talent level. And they have a style, and they dictate the pace of the game.” Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin received one vote each.
