The 2025 NFL season wrapped up less than two weeks ago with a Super Bowl victory for the Seattle Seahawks, but the awards races were arguably even more exciting than the big game. The Coach of the Year race in particular was fascinating and saw more competition at the top of the field than just about any year in the award’s history — while Mike Vrabel eventually won it, any of Liam Coen, Ben Johnson and Kyle Shanahan had legitimate cases to bring home hardware as well.
Now, we’re looking ahead to 2026. The most recent coaching cycle brought a whirlwind of change with one of the most memorable carousels in recent memory. The upcoming NFL season doesn’t kick off until September, but it’ll almost certainly be another interesting season for the Coach of the Year race with some big names in the running. DraftKings Sportsbook has just released its opening odds and lines for the award, so we’re diving into the numbers.
Here’s an early look at the 2026 Coach of the Year odds and field on DraftKings Sportsbook, including the top predictions, picks and best bets for the award.
2026 Coach of the Year early look
Coach of the Year is undoubtedly one of the most fun and underrated NFL awards/futures markets to get involved in, so we’ll hit a very brief overview of the strategy bettors need to know when analyzing the field.
There are essentially three categories of candidates for this award.
- Improvement coaches
- These coaches typically take over bad teams and win, at absolute, minimum, four or five more games than in the prior season, if not more. They would still need to finish above .500 though, so a coach whose team won three contests in the last campaign would need to win six additional games to truly qualify. Improvement coaches typically win the award — nine of the last 10 winners prior to 2025 fell in this camp, and all three finalists last year did as well.
- Circumstances coaches
- Remember when Kevin Stefanksi won Coach of the Year with the Joe Flacco-led Browns, who went through a handful of different starting quarterbacks? Circumstances coaches follow the same path, overcoming adversity (often major injuries) to become a candidate — last season, Kyle Shanahan had a strong case in this category with a banged-up 49ers squad.
- Wins coaches
- A coach can’t win just 12 games to have a case for Coach of the Year. To be a true candidate as a wins coach, 14+ wins are needed at minimum. A team must be truly dominant for this type of coach to earn a spot as a finalist, with Ron Rivera’s 15-1 run with the Panthers seemingly the last time one of these guys won it.
Now that we know what to look for, let’s dive in with the best bets and top picks for 2026 NFL Coach of the Year.
Kevin Stefanski, Atlanta Falcons (+1400)
I’ll get my favorite pick out of the way first. Kevin Stefanski deserved much better than the Browns, so it’s honestly a little bit freeing that he now finds himself at the helm of the Falcons. Sure, Atlanta has underachieved over the last half a decade, but there are some weapons here who he’ll have a blast working with in Bijan Robinson, Drake London and potentially Kyle Pitts if he returns in free agency. The offensive line largely remains intact, and the defense was perfectly average at best last season as well. There are two major questions surrounding the roster heading into the 2026 offseason — the state of the quarterback position with Michael Penix Jr. coming off another serious knee injury and Kirk Cousins a cut candidate; and whether the Falcons can still add impact players without their own first-round pick.
Both are valid concerns that are reasonably up for debate. Penix was inconsistent when healthy this past season and there’s no telling how he looks when he returns. Likewise, Cousins will likely be released before the new league year begins. The latter particularly hurts since such a move would eliminate roughly $10 million of the $26.5 million in cap space the front office was supposed to have available, so the move cuts into money that’s even more important given the lack of their own No. 13 pick. However, Stefanski has done more with less before and is a two-time Coach of the Year winner already. In a weak NFC South, Atlanta could easily take this division and improve upon the eight wins from last season.
There’s one caveat to note, though. With Stefanski already winning this award twice, perhaps voter fatigue could limit his chances at securing it for the third time. Think about it like this, though — as a multi-time winner, perhaps that pedigree may have the opposite affect on voters and make them feel more inclined to choose him at the end of the year since he’s widely regarded as that caliber of coach. Remember how there was significant outcry when Cleveland fired him in the first place? All things considered, it’s a risk I’m personally willing to run given the roster he inherits and the surrounding teams in the division. At +1400 odds, he’s a smash pick in my book that will likely only get shorter if his team starts 2026 well.
Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys (+1400)
Fans and media alike made fun of Jerry Jones and the Cowboys for hiring Brian Schottenheimer last season. Such criticism may have been warranted after the franchise bungled the coaching cycle with a late decision to move on from Mike McCarthy before a limited interview process, but the then-first-year coach proved some of the haters wrong. Dallas went just 7-9-1, but there were plenty of positives to glean. The offense dominated most opponents, ranking seventh in scoring and second in total yardage as George Pickens blossomed into an alpha wideout alongside CeeDee Lamb while catching passes from Dak Prescott. Prove-it signing Javonte Williams also paid off as the halfback looked like a star. Unfortunately, the defense was absolutely abysmal after trading away Micah Parsons, though the midseason acquisition of Quinnen Williams did briefly give an influx of life into the unit.
There are questions surrounding the roster, such as whether Pickens and Javonte Williams re-sign (with the franchise tag a real possibility for the former). If they do though, and even if the latter walks, there’s still obvious upside via the draft. The Cowboys have a pair of first-round picks in the top-20 selections and an extra fifth-rounder to work with. There are realistic avenues to significant improvement with even a half-decent draft on the defensive side of the ball, and it’s tough not to feel energized by new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s introductory press conferences. If Dallas’ dominance on offense continues and the front office can shore up the other side of the ball under a new scheme to perform at even an average level, Schottenheimer could be a legitimate candidate for Coach of the Year in 2026 at +1400 odds via the initial listing.
Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts (+2500)
Colts head coach Shane Steichen had a legitimate case to win Coach of the Year last season and was a top-three favorite for a multi-week span. The team was 8-4 with one of the NFL’s most exciting offenses through their first 12 games and seemed on track to take the AFC South. However, the season-ending injury to Daniel Jones caused the team to crash and burn from that point on, which in turn resulted in Steichen’s candidacy plummeting far from the top. An 8-9 end result was a bitter one for what looked like an up-and-coming squad that went all-in at the trade deadline to add All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner as well.
Indianapolis will surely face pressure in the AFC South from Texans and Jaguars rosters still equipped to make postseason runs in 2026. With that said, there’s no reason the Colts can’t get back to where they were — if they can either retain Jones’ services in free agency or find another answer at quarterback. After such a strong start to last season, Steichen has proven he can get the most out of this roster. That’s more than one can say about many of the other candidates in the Coach of the Year race. With a healthy Gardner in the mix on defense and hopefully a similarly dominant offense to the one we saw over the first half of last year, the +2500 listing here makes Steichen a compelling option with plenty of value.
Honorable mentions:
A handful of other candidates could prove interesting. It’s worth avoiding the top names on the odds leaderboard like favorite John Harbaugh (+500), Jesse Minter (+750) and Joe Brady (+950) at this kind of value for various reasons, and Harbaugh himself could be more of an early season bet for a better payout if the Giants come out of the gate slowly. With that said, look a little further down the market.
- Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints (+1200)
- The Saints went 6-11 last season, but five of those wins came from midseason onward with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough under center. He showed plenty of flashes and a good draft could set he and his team up nicely, even in salary cap hell. Year two under Moore should see more wins and the level of competition in the NFC South means even division games are winnable, too.
- Klint Kubiak, Las Vegas Raiders (+2200)
- As offensive coordinator of the Seahawks, all Kubiak did was help them win a Super Bowl. No big deal, right? The Raiders will likely select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick, giving them a potential franchise guy to pair with Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. With the hype surrounding the young players’ names as well as Kubiak’s newfound reputation, narratives are in his favor and he could work as an improvement coach. Las Vegas has the second-most cap space to play with too, but would have to win six additional games to get over .500 though, which will prove tough in the AFC West.
- Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders (+4000)
- We love a good long shot, yeah? The Commanders just went 5-12 last season in a miserable campaign that saw young quarterback Jayden Daniels miss significant time. A cleaner slate of health for him could do wonders for this team given his penchant for making magic happen. Yes, there are plenty of holes to fill, but Washington has the fourth-most cap space at almost $73.5 million along with the No. 7 pick. At 40/1, Quinn meets the criteria with stellar value.
