Bill Belichick won’t have Tom Brady as his quarterback for the season ahead, but with deflated expectations accompanying that loss he’s the betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com on the NFL Coach of the Year odds board.
Belichick and Brady have been tied at the hip through the New England Patriots’ run as the NFL’s biggest dynasty, but Brady bolted the team this past offseason to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That has left Belichick with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer at quarterback for the season ahead. If the Patriots can approach last year’s 12 wins, however, Belichick should get the majority of the credit. He’s the +650 favorite on the Coach of the Year odds.
Following Belichick on that board at online betting sites is the Buccaneers’ head coach, Bruce Arians, at +1200. Tampa Bay went just 7-9 and missed the playoffs last season, but expectations are much higher for this season with Jameis Winston getting replaced at quarterback by Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski also joining the team. If the Bucs do get back in the playoffs, though, it might be Brady that gets the credit instead of Arians.
Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns, and Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins are all then at +1600 on the NFL Coach of the Year odds. The Niners won an NFC-high 13 games last season and made it to the Super Bowl, while the Browns (six wins) and Dolphins (five wins) will be looking for major turnarounds this year.
Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals and Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills are then both at +1800 on that NFL betting prop, with Kingsbury also looking to engineer a turnaround after the Cards won just five games last season. McDermott’s Bills are coming off a solid 10-win playoff campaign, and could have a better shot at a division title with Brady in Tampa Bay.
Rounding out the top third of contenders on those NFL odds are then Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys, Frank Reich of the Indianapolis Colts, Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans, and Andy Reid of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, all at +2000. John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, last year’s winner, sits just back of that pack at odds of +2200.
