One day after quarterback Tom Brady was named the Associated Press' NFL offensive player of the year, his head coach was also honored with a similar award.
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The NFL Network announced Wednesday night that Bill Belichick has been named the AP NFL Coach of the Year.
According to ESPN Belichick received 30 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. That reportedly beat Raheem Morris, who led a turnaround in Tampa Bay and got 11½ votes. Belichick lead the Patriots to a league best 14-2 record, all without having an official offensive or defensive coordinator.
"I accept the award on behalf of the entire organization -- ownership, our assistant coaches and certainly the players -- they're the ones that stepped up and made the plays this year," Belichick said in an NFL Network phone interview. "We had a lot of new people on the team, young players that contributed. It's certainly an honor to receive this award on behalf of our performance in the regular season. Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry that over into the playoffs."
This was the third time Belichick won the honor, with the head coach last earning it in 2003 and 2007. He currently trails Don Shula who won it four times.
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