The Lions have four finalists, including coach Dan Campbell, for the NFL’s end-of-season awards.
ALLEN PARK, MI – The Detroit Lions had four finalists for the NFL’s end-of-season awards, including Dan Campbell, who is one of five candidates for Coach of the Year. Campbell, who guided the Lions to a franchise-best 12 wins and their first division triumph in three decades, will have heavy competition for the honor. The other nominees include Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Houston’s Demeco Ryans, Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski, and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan.
Harbaugh and Shanahan guided their teams to the top seeds in their respective conferences, while Ryans oversaw an astonishing worst-to-first turnaround in his debut season with the Texans. Stefanski’s sorcery this season included bringing the Browns to the playoffs despite having four different quarterbacks and losing standout running back Nick Chubb early in the season.
George Wilson received the first Coach of the Year title in 1957, the franchise’s final championship season, and Wayne Fontes won it in 1991, the only other time the Lions won 12 games. In addition to Campbell, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is competing for Assistant Coach of the Year, and rookies Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta are vying for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Last year, Johnson was a finalist for the award, which was won by Ryans, the 49ers’ defensive coordinator at the time.
LaPorta and Gibbs both had excellent debut seasons. The Iowa tight end set not just team rookie records, but also franchise records at his position in terms of receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Gibbs, on the other hand, amassed 1,261 yards and 11 touchdowns from scrimmage, making him one of the league’s best big-play runners. Regardless, they’ll have a difficult time beating Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, who finished sixth in passer rating while leading the Texans to the AFC South title and a playoff victory against Cleveland. The Lions have had four prior winners of the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, the most recent being running back Barry Sanders in 1989.
