Washington's Ron Rivera: Third NFL Coach of the Year In 2021?

Is the WFT about to embark on a "special'' season ... maybe special enough to get the coach another trophy?

Winning "Coach of the Year'' doesn't mean a guy is the NFL's best coach. But once he's won three "Coach of the Year'' awards?

He's probably pretty good.

Ron Rivera has already captured two such NFL honors, and PointsBet Sportsbook has odds that suggest the Washington Football Team coach will be in the mix again in the 2021 Coach of the Year race.

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Rivera is currently listed as a 17/1 shot. Listed ahead of him are Cleveland's Kevin Stefanski, the Chargers' Brendan Staley, Miami's Brian Flores, the Rams' Sean McVay, San Fran's Kyle Shanahan and Buffalo's Sean McDermott. Also sitting at 17/1 are the Colts' Frank Reich and Atlanta's Arthur Smith.

Often, the Coach of the Year award is given to a boss who turns a bad program into a good one. On other occasions, the honor is given to a coach who supervises a particularly special season. The three men who have won the honor three times - Bill Belichick, Chuck Knox and Don Shula - generally come under that latter category.

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So, is Rivera about to supervise a notable turnaround for the WFT? Not exactly, as Washington is preparing to defend its NFC East division title - meaning the "turnaround'' has likely, in the eyes of any voters, already occurred ... even though the team's 2020 record was only 7-9.

More likely, in the event of another Rivera win: The WFT is about to embark on a "special'' season ... maybe special enough to get the coach another trophy.