AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year
The AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year is an annual award presented by the Associated Press to the top assistant coach in the National Football League. The winner is decided by votes from a nationwide panel of sportswriters who regularly report on the NFL. The ACOY is presented alongside seven other AP awards at the NFL Honors and was first awarded following the 2014 season at the 4th NFL Honors. It is the first new NFL award presented by the AP since the Comeback Player of the Year award was re-introduced in 1998. Though all coaches aside from head coaches are eligible, it has only been awarded to offensive or defensive coordinators so far.
Todd Bowles was the inaugural winner of the award and, following his award-winning season, was hired as the head coach of the New York Jets. Five other coaches—Vic Fangio, Ben Johnson, DeMeco Ryans, Kyle Shanahan, and Pat Shurmur—were hired to head coaching positions following the seasons for which they won the award. Two coaches—Brian Daboll and Dan Quinn—remained assistant coaches for at least another season after winning the award but were subsequently hired as head coaches. Daboll is the only person to have been named both the AP NFL Coach of the Year and ACOY. Johnson, the offensive coordinator for the 2024 Detroit Lions, is the most recent winner of the award.