Patriots' Josh McDaniels Named Assistant Coach of the Year

All eight awards are set to be given out on Feb. 5, including MVP, Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Offensive Rookie of the Year. The 2026 NFL Honors ceremony are being hosted by Jon Hamm and aired on NBC and NFL Network, with streaming available on Peacock and NFL+. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began.

Pro Football Hall of Famers Tony Dungy and Kurt Warner and 2002 AP NFL MVP Rich Gannon are among the voters, with tabulations having been completed by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr.

McDaniels was up against Vic Fangio (defensive coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles), Brian Flores (defensive coordinator, Minnesota Vikings), Vance Joseph (defensive coordinator, Denver Broncos) and Klint Kubiak (offensive coordinator, Seattle Seahawks).

Josh McDaniels Honored With NFL National Accolade

McDaniels won this award in the midst of his third stint with the Patriots and as they are in the hunt for the Super Bowl LX title against the Seattle Seahawks. New England Head Coach Mike Vrabel has undoubtedly leaned on McDaniels — who is coaching in his 10th Super Bowl as a Patriots assistant.

"No one has more experience than Josh with this [coming up with a game plan for Super Bowl Sunday]," Vrabel recently said to the media according to Fox Sports. "And he felt like we needed to do something to keep them engaged and stimulated, so they weren’t looking at some things for the second or third time." 

In his whopping 13 seasons as the Patriots' offensive coordinator, McDaniels has led the Pats to eight top 10 rankings over that span, including the league’s No. 1 ranked offense in 2007, 2012 and 2017. This year, New England posted the No. 3 ranked offense in the NFL, averaging 28.8 points per game, second in the league. 

McDaniels — who some refer to as a "mastermind" — has also worked closely with second-year quarterback Drake Maye. The QB has had an incredibly impressive run this year in helping his team get to the Super Bowl in only his second year in the league. In addition, Maye led the NFL in passer rating (113.5) during the regular season.

The 2025 season serves as McDaniels' 19th season with the Patriots overall and his 14th as the team's offensive coordinator across the three previously mentioned stints.

He previously played quarterback and wide receiver for John Carroll University from 1995-98 and is the son of Thom McDaniels — one of the most well-respected high school coaches in the country who was a finalist for the NFL High School Coach of the Year award in 2012.