2020 NFL Coach of the Year odds: Patriots' Bill Belichick favored to win fourth award

Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, the winningest head coach in NFL history, died on Monday at age 90. He had 347 career wins (playoffs and regular season), and the only guy with a shot to break that record is New England's Bill Belichick, who has 304 victories. While Belichick obviously can't do that in 2020, he could tie Shula's record of four NFL Coach of the Year Awards. Belichick is the +850 favorite to win it on the moneyline NFL futures odds at William Hill sportsbook.

It's sort of chicken or the egg argument entering this season with the Patriots. Was Belichick or Tom Brady more responsible for reaching nine Super Bowls and winning six of them this century? We may get an answer this year now that Brady is in Tampa Bay. Belichick, it should be noted, failed as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He was 36-44 with the Browns from 1991-1995 and reached the playoffs just once.

Belichick clearly believes in himself – how else to explain the fact the Patriots really do appear ready to roll this season with inexperienced second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham instead of signing Cam Newton (still available) or Andy Dalton (now with Cowboys)? The Pats did go 11-5 in 2008 with Matt Cassel as their starter when Brady was lost Week 1 to a season-ending injury.

Which teams sail past their projected win totals? What is the SportsLine model's stunning Packers prediction? And how many wins will every NFL team have this season? ... See every projected win total, including the shocking prediction for the Packers, all from an uncanny computer model that crushed its NFL win total picks last year!     

Belichick won his first Coach of the Year Award in 2003 when he led the Patriots to a 14-2 regular-season record – this is a regular-season award only. He did again in 2007 when the Pats finished 16-0 behind a record-setting offense. Finally, Belichick won a third in 2010 when the Patriots were 14-2.

If the Patriots win even 10 games with Stidham as their starter – they have an Over-Under of 9.0 wins – then Belichick deserves Coach of the Year.