Kevin O’Connell won the NFL’s Coach Of the Year award on Thursday night. Although Brian Flores was eligible for Assistant Coach Of the Year, he never had a chance of winning the award.
Flores finished second in voting, but the gap between him and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wasn’t too wide. Voting was conducted on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis, meaning a first-place vote received ten points, a second-place vote received five points, etc.
Johnson finished with 364 points, with Flores finishing a distant second with 143. The Lions’ coordinator received 29 of 50 first-place votes. Flores finished with three first-place votes.
However, Flores received 25 second and third-place votes, giving him a comfortable lead on Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who finished with 110 points.
This could lead to Flores winning the award next year, as Johnson and Glenn have been hired as head coaches. Winning the award would make it difficult for teams to continue bypassing Flores for a head coaching job.
