NFL Honors 2019: Pete Carroll finishes fifth in Coach of the Year voting

The NFL is handing out its awards for the 2018 season, and among the traditional categories, the AP Coach of the Year award went to Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who led the Bears to a 12-4 record and an NFC North title.

According to the full AP breakdown, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was among six to receive a COTY vote, finishing fifth with a whopping two votes.

As noted last year, the Seahawks have never won an AP award in the Russell Wilson era. Carroll in particular has never finished higher than third in Coach of the Year voting, and that came in 2012. This is the first time Carroll has received a COTY vote since the 2014 season, which doubles as Seattle’s last appearance in the Super Bowl.

The 2018 Seahawks were widely predicted to miss the playoffs, with a handful of so-called experts believing Seattle would be picking in the top-ten. After a 4-5 start, Seattle went on a second-half surge and clinched a wild card spot at 10-6. Even in their losses, they were always competitive, and were one of only three teams all season — Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears are the other two — to not trail by at least 17 points at any point in a game this year.

Carroll was never going to win this award, but it’s good to see at least a couple of Associated Press members acknowledge what a great job Pete did this season.