Despite leading the Detroit Lions to a league-leading, franchise-record 15-2 record, Dan Campbell was not named 2025 NFL Coach of the Year.
The Detroit Lions finished tied for the league-best record in 2024, finishing 15-2. That’s the most wins the Lions have ever had in a single season, and they earned the NFC’s top seed for the first time in franchise history.
But all that wasn’t enough for Lions coach Dan Campbell to win 2024 NFL Coach of the Year at the NFL Honors on Thursday night. Those honors went to Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, who led the Vikings to a 14-3 season.
To O’Connell’s credit, the Vikings wildly outperformed expectations. Their preseason Vegas odds win total was set at just 7.5, as many thought this was going to be a rebuilding season in Minnesota. Beyond that, O’Connell deserves a lot of credit for getting a very productive season out of quarterback Sam Darnold. After six seasons of subpar play finishing no higher than a 92.6 passer rating, Darnold had a career season, completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and a 102.5 passer rating—all career highs on his way to his first ever Pro Bowl.
Still, it’s odd for Campbell not to get the nod over O’Connell, particularly because Detroit defeated the Vikings in both of their matchups, including the division-deciding regular-season finale.
Additionally, Campbell helped the Lions defy their own odds. When the injury bug hit the team hard in November and December, Detroit kept the ship afloat. Throughout the final few weeks of the season, Detroit had to coach up new faces who entered the building on Monday and needed to play on Sunday. That speaks not only to Campbell’s ability to coach up players but also to the entire Lions coaching staff.
Obviously, like O’Connell, Campbell’s season fell drastically short in the playoffs, but this was an award for the regular season only, and the Lions coach should have been the pick.
We’ll provide the final vote tally—which was produced by 50 different NFL writers—when it becomes publicly available.
Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell — 25 first-place votes, 361 total vote points
Lions’ Dan Campbell — 19 first-place votes, 283 total vote points
Chiefs’ Andy Reid — 4 first-place votes, 119 total vote points
Commanders’ Dan Quinn — 6 first-place votes, 85 total vote points
Broncos’ Sean Payton — 2 first-place votes, 71 total vote points
If you want to see who voted against Campbell, the Associated Press released each voter’s ballot here.
