Pete Prisco is among the first to recognize that John Fox belongs in the coach of the year discussion:

John Fox, Denver Broncos: People said he couldn't win with Tim Tebow as his quarterback; that all he was doing by playing the former Florida star was allowing Tebow to demonstrate why he can't make it in the NFL. Yeah, sure, and 6-foot quarterbacks like Drew Brees can't, either.

It's not just that Fox had the courage to make the move; it's what he did with it. After the Broncos were shredded at home by Detroit, he decided he could keep losing with Tebow in a conventional offense or tailor his attack to suit his quarterback's unique skills. So he took the mountain to Tebow, went to an option offense and, literally, starting running the table. The Broncos beat Oakland. They beat Kansas City. They beat the Jets. And they beat San Diego.

Maybe Tebow's not your idea of a quarterback -- he's not John Elway's -- but he's 5-1, and I don't care how he or the Broncos got there. The record speaks for itself. All I know is that before the season I asked people close to the team what the over/under on wins was, and we all agreed on six games. Well, guess what? The Broncos not only are there; they're in the middle of the playoff race after a 1-4 start. John Fox, take a curtain call. You changed quarterbacks, you changed offenses, you changed a team's psyche and maybe you changed how people look at Tim Tebow.

Nice to see Fox getting recognition for the vision to do what many other NFL coaches would never have dreamed of doing. Sure, coaches have dabbled with the option here and there through the years, but they always abandoned it because their quarterbacks couldn't withstand the pounding. T2 not only can withstand the pounding (at least so far) he thrives on it. Give Fox all credit for recognizing this and doing what it takes to win. In my book, this is the defining characteristic of a great coach: when the talent he has is not suited to his preferred system, he adapts to bring out the best in the talent he has. We're very fortunate to have the mad scientist of the NFL running game in Denver. It's nice to see the MSM starting to recognize this.