It's a subject that's been brought up before, and it will certainly be brought up again, but Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton is not likely to win the NFL's Coach of the Year award.
And it has nothing to do with his credentials at this point.
No, the reason why Payton won't win the NFL Coach of the Year award in 2025 is simple: He's not a first-year coach with a new team. Just like the NFL MVP award is typically given to a quarterback, the Coach of the Year award is almost exclusively given to the coach whose team either overachieves the most, or the coach at the helm of a team that went from worst to first. But at least one person in the media is giving Sean Payton his due credit.
NFL insider Dianna Russini starts an important Coach of the Year conversation about Broncos HC Sean Payton
Dianna Russini of The Athletic recently posted about Payton's Coach of the Year credentials, basically asking the question that everybody else should be: Why not Payton?
This year’s Coach of the Year field is more crowded than ever.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) December 20, 2025
But while Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel, Liam Coen and others are succeeding in their first years, Sean Payton also deserves credit for what he’s doing in Denver.https://t.co/D8T2744v4l pic.twitter.com/7yFOGKvFXQ
It's a fair point to make, and the reasons for Payton not winning the award this year are few, at least at this point.
The Broncos currently have the best overall record in the NFL. They are trending toward winning the AFC West for the first time since the 2015 season. They have overcome $90 million in dead cap from the egregious Russell Wilson mistake, winning 10 games last season and 12 already this season.
Payton has helped the Broncos get back to the top of the AFC with a massive handcuff on the salary cap, a young and developing quarterback, and a roster that was considered the worst in the NFL heading into last season.
There are a lot of really strong candidates out there this season for the award, including the Broncos' counterpart in Week 16 (Jaguars HC Liam Coen). Mike Vrabel and the Patriots have been outstanding. The 49ers have been impressive despite a ton of injuries. MIke Macdonald deserves credit for the way he's got the Seahawks rising to the top of the loaded NFC.
And there are plenty of others out there. But who has done more with less than Payton? That's not to diminish the job of the Broncos' front office, but what Payton inherited was unanimously considered a mess by the NFL world. And because of the fact that the Broncos had a measure of success last season, the "curve" Payton is getting graded on this year has changed.
The only reason why Payton won't be considered for this award at the end of the year is because the Broncos weren't the media's definition of an overnight success. The rest of the media world needs to admit the truth, which is that even in a year of great coaching jobs around the league, Payton's resumé stands alone.