The night before Super Bowl XLIX, the NFL will salute its best players and plays from the 2014 season with "NFL Honors," a star-studded football and entertainment event hosted by Seth Meyers from Symphony Hall at the Phoenix Convention Center. Here's the broadcasting information for Saturday night's festivities:
» 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network: Red carpet coverage
» 9 p.m. ET on NBC: 4th Annual NFL Honors
One of the awards that will be presented on Saturday: Coach of the Year. Who gets your vote?
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- Judy Battista @JudyBattista
Bruce Arians truly worked his magic in Arizona
Jim Caldwell and Jason Garrett deserve consideration, but Bruce Arians gets the nod because he did more with less -- and less, and less -- as the year went on and the Cardinals suffered a staggering number of injuries. He finally ran out of viable quarterbacks, but it says something that we ended the season thinking, If only Drew Stanton were healthy, they would have gone further.
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- Gregg Rosenthal @GreggRosenthal
Arians earned the trophy, but Bowles deserves a share
Bruce Arians has to win the award, with a big assist to defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. The Cardinals suddenly solved a long-term problem on the offensive line and won 11 games with a rotating cast of quarterbacks other teams didn't particularly want. Arians is awesome at staying aggressive in game-management situations, and his confidence rubs off on the team.
Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll also deserve consideration, but voters tend to stay away from great coaches who are great every year. Typically, they'd rather reward guys who take teams from five to 10 wins, as opposed to those who find a way to beat the system every year.
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- Adam Schein @AdamSchein
Don't overlook Houston's seven-win improvement under Bill O'Brien
Bruce Arians, Jason Garrett and Jim Caldwell are great candidates. But, as I wrote last month, I voted for Bill O'Brien. He turned Gary Kubiak's two-win mess into a nine-win surprise, despite having the worst QB situation in the NFL. And he hatched the idea to play J.J. Watt on offense. O'Brien is fantastic!
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- Elliot Harrison @HarrisonNFL
Nobody overcame more attrition than Arians
Bruce Arians earned it. Just consider all the players he lost at key positions: his top two quarterbacks, top running back, arguably his best defensive player, a key starter like Darnell Dockett ... shoot, we could go on and on. Arizona went 11-5 the hard way, and Arians deserves credit for it.
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- Daniel Jeremiah @MoveTheSticks
Well, this is easy ...
Bruce Arians. No, there isn't much of a debate on this one.
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- Bucky Brooks @BuckyBrooks
Remember what we expected from Dallas in the preseason? Yeah, Jason Garrett's my pick
Jason Garrett is my choice for the Coach of the Year. The Dallas Cowboys were expected to languish in the NFC East cellar with a roster that appeared devoid of talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Yet, Garrett molded the team into a division winner by using an old-school approach that effectively masked the team's flaws. The Cowboys ran the ball behind a powerful O-line and unleashed DeMarco Murray as a workhorse runner. The run-heavy formula protected an ailing Tony Romo and helped Dallas win 13 games with a blue-collar approach. In addition, Garrett and Rod Marinelli transformed a no-name defense into a competitive unit that played hard and challenged elite opponents with physicality and effort. With the Cowboys emerging as an NFC heavyweight, Garrett deserves credit for turning lemons into lemonade.
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- Charley Casserly @CharleyCasserly
Arizona won 11 games despite playing four quarterbacks? Bruce Almighty!
Bruce Arians won 11 games and made it to the playoffs using four quarterbacks. Along the way, he lost a number of key players -- but the team never used that as an excuse to lose. This is a credit to Arians. His "never give up" attitude was contagious among the players.
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- Conor Orr @ConorTOrr
Arians deserves all the credit in the world for the juggling act he pulled off in Arizona
Bruce Arians. Another easy one. Arizona's season was a clear tribute to coaching, not just by Arians, but also by Tom Moore and Todd Bowles. Still, Arians assembled the crew and will get all the kudos for a job well done. Anyone who can reach the playoffs with a trio of Palmer, Stanton and Lindley -- while expertly balancing a delicate situation at wide receiver with Larry Fitzgerald -- earns it.
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- Brian Billick @CoachBillick
A quarterback-dependent league? Not when you have the brilliant Arians on the sideline
Bruce Arians won 11 games (and qualified for the playoffs) with his franchise QB starting just six of them. Enough said.
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- Kevin Patra @KPatra
Arians' Cardinals endured ill fortune -- and a brutal NFC West -- to hit the postseason
Arians guided one of the most decimated teams in the NFL to the playoffs. He and his staff constantly overcame defensive losses early in the season to jump out to a lead in the difficult NFC West. Even after Carson Palmer's injury, Arians was able to win games with Drew Stanton at the helm. If it wasn't for the complete quarterback quagmire, the Cardinals wouldn't have been a one-and-done playoff team.
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- Dave Dameshek @Dameshek
Arians isn't the only Cardinals coach who deserves major kudos
Bruce Arians deserves this award ... so long as it's exclusive to HEAD coaches. If it were opened up to assistants, though, he might not even rate tops in the Cardinals' locker room. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles (now the Jets head man) worked miracles by maintaining his unit's lofty standards in spite of injuries, suspensions and departures. Arians, though, continues to be one of the NFL's most stunning success stories since "retiring" from his Steelers OC post three years ago.
