New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been named the Associated Press Coach of the Year. The is the third time the Patriots' coach has received the honor, as he also won the award in 2003 and 2007.
Belichick received 30 votes from a panel of 50 media members nationwide. Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris finished second in the voting, receiving 11 1/2 votes .
"I accept the award on behalf of the entire organization -- ownership, our assistant coaches and certainly the players -- they're the ones that stepped up and made the plays this year," Belichick said in an NFL Network phone interview. "We had a lot of new people on the team, young players that contributed. It's certainly an honor to receive this award on behalf of our performance in the regular season. Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry that over into the playoffs." (via ESPNBoston.com)
Prior to the 2010 season, many doubted that Belichick and the Patriots would even make the playoffs. They went on to finish with an NFL-best 14-2 record and the number one seed in the AFC.
The announcement of comes one day after Belichick's quarterback, Tom Brady, was named the 2010 AP Offensive Player of the Year. Brady threw for 3,900 yards, tossed 36 touchdowns and threw only four interceptions in 2010.
"I will say the foundation of the Patriots organization, which starts with [owner Robert Kraft] and Coach Belichick, has not changed since the day I arrived," Brady said. "They have and will always do what is in the best interest of the team, and they will continue to find selfless players that love to work hard, compete and strive to be the best they can possibly be." (via ESPNBoston.com)