Browns Jim Schwartz snags first award of NFL Honors

A loaded field for Assistant Coach of the Year goes to Cleveland’s first year man

The Cleveland Browns have four finalists for major awards at the NFL Honors. Instituted recently to showcase stars from the season a few days before the Super Bowl, the Browns would much rather be preparing for the game than waiting to find out what awards they won.

There was uncertainty if any of the trophies would be heading to the Lake Shore but the first award of the night came Cleveland’s way as defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won Assistant Coach of the Year.

The finalists for that award were a strong list of candidates including both Baltimore Ravens coordinators:

• Mike Macdonald, DC, Ravens (now Seattle’s head coach)
• Todd Monken, OC, Ravens
• Ben Johnson, OC, Detroit Lions
• Bobby Slowik, OC, Houston Texans

It is important to note that votes are cast for the regular season. Slowik’s performance with the Texans versus the Browns in the playoffs was not taken into consideration.

The voting wasn’t particularly close:

The team’s social media was ready to go with this graphic for Schwartz’s win:

Under Schwartz, Cleveland’s defense became a force to be reckoned with. In most categories, the Browns led the league throughout the meat of the season.

Do you think Schwartz deserved the award based on his defense’s performance in the regular season?