A friend was given 5 chances to guess the newly elected NFL’s Coach of the Year. He might have needed ten.

1st  attempt: Jim Caldwell – first year Indianapolis Colts Head Coach. Nearly missed a perfect regular season, but finished 14-2 earning Indy a first round bye and home field advantage in the playoffs.

2nd try: Sean Payton – Masterminded the dominant New Orleans Saints to a 13-3 finish. Pulled the strings of an explosive offense and flirted with thoughts of 16-0.

3rd times a charm: Wade Philips – Dallas Cowboys. Dallas, the constant media circus, welcomed both their usually high amount of criticism and a brand new stadium this season. Philips, the ringleader, put his foot in his mouth with the media, but pulled it out just in time to stomp out the Eagles twice and show the league that shutdown defense and winning in December are not lost on the ‘Boys.

How about #4: Rex Ryan – First year Jets coach Rex Ryan had to play kindergarten teacher to his rookie QB Mark Sanchez – teaching Sanchez the meaning of his “colors” while running a large market franchise. Ryan cried in press conferences and made vigorous statements about standing up to rival New England, but through it all Rookie Rex and his blitz-happy D got the Jets back on track in the AFC East.

Okay fine, #5: John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens – Harbaugh was given youth at both QB and RB and made lemonade. He was able to maintain an ageing defenses’ potency while developing a young, fast and dangerous offense. After overcoming a midseason slump, Harbaugh’s Ravens are a dark horse on the road in the playoffs.

And the winner is…

Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals.

Lewis proved that great coaching goes much deeper than end-of-season numbers and overall success.

In his sixth year as Bengals’ Head Coach, Lewis displayed an amazing ability to keep it all together both on the field and in the locker room, even under extraordinary circumstances. The Bengals faced two painful loses this season. Vikki Zimmer, the wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, and wide receiver Chris Henry tragically passed during the course of the season.

The emotional toll hit the Bengals in both fronts of the organization. The coaching staff and players alike were faced with the task of overcoming loss while maintaining a motivated and professional atmosphere. Coach Lewis took on the role of both consoler and confidence-inspirer. The magnitude of his leadership manifested in Cincinnati’s addition of six more wins to their previous 4-11-1 season and just their second division title since 1990.

Although their team was bounced from the playoffs in the wild-card round by the Jets, Bengals fans have something to take pride in as their Head Coach receives his just honors for rising to the occasion under daunting circumstances.

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