Dan Campbell led an injury-ravaged team to 15 wins, a perfect record in its division and the No. 1 seed in its conference. It wasn't enough for Coach of the Year.
The award went instead to Kevin O'Connell, who guided Sam Darnold and the Vikings to a 14-3 season -- despite two of those losses coming to Campbell's Lions.
O'Connell was named the 2024 AP Coach of the Year at the NFL honors Thursday night, winning a tight race with 25 first-place votes to Campbell's 19. Two voters from the panel of 50 media members left Campbell off their ballots altogether.
The full voting tally is below, with Andy Reid of the Chiefs (15-2) finishing third, Dan Quinn of the Commanders (12-5) fourth and Sean Payton of the Broncos (10-7) fifth.
O'Connell and the Vikings did double their projected win total; Vegas generally pegged them to finish with seven, same as last year. And O'Connell's ability to transform Sam Darnold into a Pro Bowl quarterback deserves plenty of praise.
The Lions were projected to win somewhere between 10 and 11 games -- but that was before they suffered historic levels of injuries on defense, including Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Alex Anzalone and Carlton Davis III, among other key starters.
They nevertheless dominated the NFL, finishing with a point differential of plus-222 that represented the widest gap between the next-closest team since the 2007 Patriots who went 16-0. The Lions also had an unblemished record on the road.
They beat the Vikings 31-29 in Week 7 in Minnesota, then again in Week 18 in Detroit in a 31-9 rout with the NFC North on the line.
Ultimately, neither O'Connell nor Campbell finished the season satisfied. Their teams both lost their first playoff game, the Vikings on the road to the Rams in the wild card round, the Lions at home to the Commanders in the divisional round.