The vote on SB Nation's preseason award for NFL coach of the year was hotly contested with 13 coaches getting at least one vote. There can be only one winner though, and that's Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who pulled down 17 percent of the vote to make him SB Nation's preseason pick for NFL coach of the year.
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Andy Reid of the Philadelphia Eagles was the next highest vote-getter, a second place honor he shared with Baltimore Ravens' John Harbaugh.
Three coaches had two votes apiece -- Houston Texans' Gary Kubiak, San Francisco 49ers' John Harbaugh and New York Giants' Tom Coughlin.
The remaining coaches received one vote -- Cincinnati Bengals' Marvin Lewis, Kansas City Chiefs' Romeo Crennel, Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars' Mike Mularkey, New England Patriots' Bill Belichick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Greg Schiano and Dallas Cowboys' Jason Garrett.
A sampling SB Nation bloggers' comments on the award:
Bucs Nation (Pete Carroll):
The Seattle Seahawks are a team that isn't built conventionally, and Pete Carroll doesn't adhere to the normal rules for an NFL head coach. With the emergence of Russell Wilson this team can be good enough to win the NFC West - and Carroll should get plenty of praise if he manages to beat out last year's coach of the year for the division title.
Bleeding Green Nation (Andy Reid):
I think the Eagles will have a good season and make the playoffs. So after missing them last year, that's probably enough of a turnaround to at least get Reid in the conversation... And I think if he's in the conversation, sentiment could carry him to theaward this season.
Big Cat Country (Mike Mularkey):
While picking Mike Mularkey as the manager of SB Nation's Jaguars blog might seem a bit homerish, I do feel like he has a legitimate shot of earning coach of the year honors. Mularkey is coming into a situation where in the previous season the football team struggled to win five football games and had the worst passing offense in the NFL with a quarterback in Blaine Gabbert who was just abysmal to the point at which people were already writing him off. Through training camp and the preseason, Mularkey has already made a night and day difference in Gabbert and if it translates into the regular season could see a massive turn around from being one of the worst passers in the NFL and have the Jaguars pushing towards a potential .500 record, maybe more if they're lucky.
The Phinsider (Gary Kubiak):
Gary Kubiak could have been Coach of the Year last year, taking the Texans to the division title and playoffs for the first time in team history, and doing it with just about every player on the team missing time due to injury. Jim Harbaugh was probably the right choice last year, but I think Kubiak will turn around and continue the success he had last year, and pick up the award this year.
The full results:
Pete Carroll: 17 percent
Andy Reid: 13
John Harbaugh: 13
Gary Kubiak: 8
Jim Harbaugh: 8
Tom Coughlin: 8
Marvin Lewis: 4
Romeo Crennel: 4
Lovie Smith: 4
Mike Mularkey: 4
Lovie Smith: 4
Bill Belichick: 4
Greg Schiano: 4
Jason Garrett: 4
