EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Brian Daboll will have to add some space in his home to display the trophies from all the awards he's winning.
Daboll was named the 2022 NFL Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association of America. Earlier this week, he was cited as the NFC Coach of the Year in the 53rd annual 101 Awards. And yesterday, Daboll was announced as one of the finalists for the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year award.
The Giants finished 9-7-1 and qualified for the playoffs as a wild card team. It was the Giants' first winning season and first postseason berth since 2016. The Giants won just four games in 2021, the year prior to Daboll's arrival, and the five-game improvement is their largest in one season since they jumped from six victories in 2015 to 11 in 2016.
Daboll was instrumental in reenergizing the team's offense. The Giants were fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (148.2), fifth in rushing yards per play (4.84) and set a franchise record by scoring a rushing touchdown in each of the team's final 15 regular-season contests.
Daboll is the fifth coach in Giants history to lead the team to the playoffs in his debut season, joining Allie Sherman (1961), Dan Reeves (1993), Jim Fassel (1997) and Ben McAdoo (2016). Rookie coach Earl Potteiger led the Giants to the 1927 NFL championship in the era before playoffs.
Daboll was one of three first-year head coaches to lead his team to the postseason in 2022, joining Minnesota's Kevin O'Connell and Miami's Mike McDaniel. Daboll was the only one of the three to advance to the divisional round, and he did so with a Giants victory against O'Connell's Vikings.
Daboll was the first Giants coach to win his postseason debut since Reeves in 1993. He joined Jim Lee Howell, Ray Perkins, Bill Parcells and Reeves as Giants coaches who were victorious in their first playoff games.
Daboll is the fourth Giants coach to be honored as the PFWA Coach of the Year, joining Bill Parcells; 1986-NFC; Reeves; 1993 and Fassel; 1997. As the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2020, Daboll received the PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year award. He is the sixth person to earn both the Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year awards from the PFWA, joining Bruce Arians, Dom Capers, Jason Garrett, Marvin Lewis and Ron Rivera.
View photos of head coach Brian Daboll's time with the New York Giants.