Josh McDaniels is aiming to win his seventh Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots on Sunday. In the meantime, he has won the Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year Award for the first time.
The NFL announced the win Thursday evening prior to the annual NFL Honors show in San Francisco.
McDaniels becomes the first Patriots assistant to win the award, which was first handed out in 2014. He was New England's offensive coordinator on three Super Bowl teams since the award's inception (in 2014, 2016 and 2018), but did not win in any of those seasons.
McDaniels returned to Foxborough this season for his third stint as Patriots offensive coordinator, joining Mike Vrabel's staff and taking charge of the development of second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
The results have exceeded just about everyone's expectations. The Patriots ranked second in points scored this season and third in yards. Maye emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate, leading the league in passer rating (113.5), QBR (77.1), completion percentage (72.0%) and yards per attempt (8.9). He threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, while also running for 450 yards and 4 TDs. The MVP will be awarded later Thursday night.