Take a bow: These coaches deserve some love, too

When the Associated Press announces its Coach of the Year award, look for the names of Mike Smith, Tony Sparano, John Fox, Mike Tomlin and Jeff Fisher to appear at or near the top.

This season has been a challenge for Tony Dungy but the Colts are still playoff bound. (US Presswire)

Smith and Sparano probably are the front-runners because of what they've done with reclamation projects. Miami's Sparano picked up the league doormat a year ago and has it in line for the playoffs. Atlanta's Smith pulled together a franchise that was in disarray and has it this close to the playoffs, too.

Plus, he's doing it with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan.

Anyway, assume those five are our front-runners. That doesn't mean others shouldn't be recognized for what they did this season. I always like the guys flying under the radar, coaches who probably won't get a sniff for the award but who deserve to be recognized nevertheless.

And this year I can think of at least five more. Would the following please stand when your names are called?

Bill Belichick, New England

So he lost Tom Brady. And Adalius Thomas. And Rodney Harrison. Tedy Bruschi. Running backs galore. Defensive backs galore. That might sink another coach or another organization. Not Belichick and not the Patriots. He has them on top of the AFC East with two games to go, and a show of hands, please, of those who think he won't beat Arizona and Buffalo to complete the season? I thought so. We believe in him because he knows how to win. OK, OK, so he had a lot to work with, like an 18-1 club that was this close to winning another Super Bowl. But those Patriots lost their best player -- the league MVP -- one quarter into the season and had to survive with a quarterback who hadn't started since high school. But it isn't surviving; it's flourishing. I call that remarkable.

Brad Childress, Minnesota

Six weeks ago he was on the endangered list, and there were calls to fire him. Now he's at the top of the NFC North and in position to make the Vikings a winner for the first time since 2000. So what? So we recognize Childress for making the right call when the right call had to be made. He had the guts to save himself -- and the Vikings -- before it was too late, and I'm talking about sitting down Tarvaris Jackson two games into the season. Normally, you don't make a switch that soon, but Childress read the tea leaves and saw where he and the club were headed. So he yanked Jackson, made Gus Frerotte the starter and the Vikings have been 9-3 since. That should count for something, and it does. Welcome to the club, Brad.

Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona

I know what you're going to say before you say it: The Cards aren't that good, and they won the NFC West because the division stinks. I don't care. They won the division, and that's all that matters. The last time Arizona made the playoffs was 1998, and the last time the Cards hosted a playoff game was 1947. What Whisenhunt has done is raise the Titanic. In less than two years, he changed the culture around the Cardinals -- a culture of losing -- and turned them into a playoff team. A playoff team. Now think about that for a nanosecond. The odds of it snowing in Phoenix were greater than the Cards hosting a home playoff game. Yet Whisenhunt made it happen with a 37-year-old quarterback who was supposed to be finished. Do you believe in miracles?

John Harbaugh, Baltimore

One of my favorite coaches anywhere, but sometimes good guys don't make good coaches. Whisenhunt did. Dungy did. Harbaugh did, too. In his first year on the job, he has done the improbable -- turning a Ravens team that sank to 5-11 a year ago into a playoff-caliber club overnight. And he's done it the hard way: With a rookie quarterback. Were it not for a controversial goal-line call last weekend, Baltimore might be tied with Pittsburgh for first place in the AFC North. As it is, the Ravens are still in playoff contention. Credit Harbaugh for pulling together a marvelous staff, overcoming a raft of injuries and growing with his rookie quarterback. And credit owner Steve Bisciotti for making the tough -- and right -- call on his next head coach.

Tony Dungy, Indianapolis

He's a regular on "Best Of" lists because he is one of the top -- if not THE top -- coaches in the business. Dungy wins and wins and wins, even when he doesn't have the Defensive Player of the Year or his starting running back or key offensive linemen. He wins because he's the consummate professional who knows how to handle players, manage seasons and win big games. Dungy started this season with Peyton Manning coming off a training camp where he didn't play. No big deal. The Colts survived early setbacks and are on a seven-game tear. You will see them again in the playoffs because that's what Dungy also does -- get to the playoffs. So he had to have some luck, like that win in Houston. I don't care. The bottom line is Dungy hasn't missed the playoffs since he arrived in Indianapolis. This year was a challenge, but challenges are what Dungy made a career overcoming. If I have one guy I want my next coach to emulate, it's this one.