It was only seven seasons ago that the Associated Press started giving out an award for the top assistant coach in the NFL, following the guide of the NCAA’s own Broyles award. Not surprisingly, all six winners of the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award have been coordinators, and four of them were hired as head coaches the following year.
But the NFL has a golden opportunity to change that this year, and with good reason, by giving the award to Cowboys offensive line coach Joe Philbin. It’s often hard to assess the relative value of position coaches, but every now and then a situation presents itself wherein it’s undeniable that a position coach had a big impact.