NFL Coach of the Year Odds Week 18 | Can Macdonald, Coen Catch Vrabel?

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is the resounding NFL Coach of the Year odds favorite, and for good reason. New England has won the AFC East at 14-3, has a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference, and plays home to the MVP favorite in Drake Maye.

So, Vrabel is a shoo-in here, right? Not so fast. Let's take a look at two other candidates who could potentially steal the award away from him after Week 18.

📊 Live NFL Coach of the Year odds

Latest NFL odds updated live in real time from our best NFL betting sites.

🪖 The case for Mike Vrabel to win Coach of the Year (-190)

Let's get one thing straight here: Vrabel is the likely Coach of the Year, and is still presenting some value at -190 betting odds, as I'd price him closer to -250 with Week 18 coming to a close. The Patriots are just one year removed from a 4-13 campaign and last place in the AFC East. Yes, the turnaround has been incredible under the first-year head coach in New England, and yes, the development from Drake Maye into one of the best deep ball quarterbacks in the NFL can somewhat be attributed to Vrabel - at least that's how the voters will see it.

I'll give him the nod for Coach of the Year when it comes to optics, too.

Under Vrabel, the Patriots have a top-five offense in terms of passing yards per game, yards per game, points, and a top-five scoring defense. If the Patriots wrap up the conference, the Coach of the Year belongs to Vrabel. It would be his second COY award after winning it once with the Tennessee Titans in 2021.

🟢 The case for Mike Macdonald to win Coach of the Year (+230)

If we're talking about the Coach of the Year, Macdonald has to be a part of the discussion. Aside from having the best regular-season winning percentage in the history of the Seahawks (24-10, .706) during his two years with the team (small sample size, I know), he ultimately turned a 9-8 team under Pete Carroll into the No. 1 seed in the NFC Conference in just his second season as head coach. His 14 wins this year are the most in franchise history in a single season, too - not bad.

Under Macdonald, the Seahawks own a top-five scoring offense and a top-five scoring defense, and could very well have the Offensive Player of the Year in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. His own players have also gone to bat for him, saying their success is directly attributed to Macdonald's winning culture. At +230, Macdonald is a worthy candidate on the Coach of the Year odds board.

🐆 The case for Liam Coen to win Coach of the Year (+1100)

Coen has changed people's minds about the Jacksonville Jaguars in one season. Not only has he turned a 4-13 team into the AFC South division champion, but Trevor Lawrence has become a bonafide MVP candidate and has been playing the best football of his career this year.

Coen is the only first-year head coach in NFL history to win 12-plus games after taking over a team that had four or fewer wins in the prior season. That alone should be enough to wager a flier at +1100 betting odds.

The Jags own a top-10 scoring offense and a top-10 scoring defense under Coen, and are smack in the middle of the Super Bowl odds at +1300 - a far cry from the +11000 betting odds they owned prior to the season (the longest odds of all the coaches on this list). 

He's come a long way from his infamous "DUVAAAL" press conference. I'll be sprinkling a half-unit on him.