As the new NFL season dawns, all eyes are on John Harbaugh and the revamped coaching team of the Giants in East Rutherford. It’s little wonder why, given that FanDuel Sportsbook has pegged him as the frontrunner for the NFL Coach of the Year award, with odds placed at +650.

Harbaugh, who boasts a Super Bowl win in his career, faces the formidable challenge of turning around the Giants following a bleak season. The team limped to a 4-13 record, finding themselves at the bottom of the NFC East standings.

The mission is clear: Harbaugh aims to emulate the remarkable transformation achieved by last year’s recipient, Mike Vrabel. Vrabel led his team from last in their division to clinching 14 victories and securing a Super Bowl spot.

Yet, Harbaugh isn’t the only contender for the esteemed accolade. Jesse Minter, who steps into Harbaugh’s shoes in Baltimore, is also a formidable candidate with the second-best odds at +850.

Also in the mix are Kevin Stefanski and Kellen Moore, both carrying 14/1 odds. Moore’s prospects with New Orleans are garnering attention, as many believe that Tyler Shough and the Saints pose a serious challenge for the NFC South title.

2026 NFL Coach of the Year odds

Further down the board, the Bills’ newly promoted Joe Brady and Ben Johnson of the Bears are both listed at 15/1. Brian Schottenheimer and Titans coach Robert Saleh, formerly of the Jets, each carry 16/1 prices. 

Rounding out the top ten are Klint Kubiak at 17/1 and Jim Harbaugh at 19/1, before the market truly widens with remaining candidates listed at odds of 22/1 or higher. 

Let’s dive into two names to sprinkle a wager on ahead of Week 1:

2026 NFL Coach of the Year picks

Zac Taylor, 28/1, DraftKings 

Taylor and the Bengals’ 2021 run to the Super Bowl was magical, followed by an AFC Championship appearance the following season, when they lost to the Chiefs.

Since then, the Bengals’ output has been marked by disappointment, injuries, and mediocrity defensively. 

This is the moment for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, as well as other offensive standouts Tee Higgins and Chase Brown, to make a major impact in the AFC North.

On defense, the additions of Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen boost their line. 

With a favorable schedule that includes the Browns twice, as well as matchups against the Titans, Dolphins, and Falcons, Cincinnati is poised for a strong season.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Taylor’s name enter the fold as a potential COTY nominee if all things go according to plan.

Betting on the NFL?

Dave Canales, 40/1, BetMGM

The Panthers secured their first NFC South division title in over a decade and ended last season with an 8-9 record.

Canales has successfully breathed new life into the franchise as Carolina certainly gave Matthew Stafford and the Rams a run for their money in a Wild Card playoff thriller, ultimately falling by one possession.

Offensive Rookie of the Year winner Tetoria McMillan provides reliable hands that have significantly accelerated the growth of Bryce Young by providing him a true go-to target. 

While the loss of second-round draft pick Nic Scourton during training camp is a blow to the defensive unit, the front office made a splash earlier this offseason by signing former Eagle Jaelan Phillips to a lucrative four-year, $120 million contract. 

The NFC South remains a wide-open race, and even with a tougher schedule, placing a small wager on Canales to further reshape the Panthers’ identity in year three at the helm is a gamble I think worth taking.

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Mike Turay is a sports journalist and editor who closely follows the NBA, NFL, college sports and UFC. He has demonstrated expertise in both NBA and NFL player prop bets for nearly three years. Mike is also highly knowledgeable about the sportsbook offer landscape, frequently trying and reviewing the latest apps and sites.

Dramatic new footage has emerged, capturing the fiery devastation as a massive blaze consumed a warehouse often dubbed the ‘Russian Amazon,’ located just outside Moscow. This destruction followed a drone assault attributed to Ukraine.

In the pre-dawn hours, the Wildberries online shopping hub in Koledino—merely 25 miles from central Moscow—became an inferno. This scene unfolded suddenly, setting the sprawling complex ablaze.

Wildberries, Russia’s top e-commerce giant, allegedly stores military equipment for President Putin, according to Ukrainian claims. The incident has drawn significant international attention, given the site’s prominence.

According to Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, the city was targeted by an onslaught of over 600 drones that night. Concurrently, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its forces had downed 822 Ukrainian drones during this intense period of conflict.

Tragically, the attacks have claimed at least six lives. Among the deceased is an 83-year-old man who perished when a drone struck his private residence within the Moscow area, highlighting the personal toll of this escalating conflict.

Five people were also killed in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, where three towns came under attack. 

It came as British drones were used to strike targets on Russian mainland for the first time, reports said last night. 

Drones made by two UK companies were supplied to Ukraine, whose forces deployed the weapons as part of its deep-strike campaign.

Ukraine also came under Russian attack, with drone strikes destroying homes and torching Kyiv’s landmark book market. 

A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih killed two people and wounded 14 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today – adding that one more person was killed in the city of Sumy.

Separately, NATO scrambled a fighter jet and shot down a drone that flew into Romania in the early hours of this morning. Two Spanish F-18 planes were deployed after the unmanned aircraft was detected entering the national airspace around 14 miles north of Galați. 

Romanian defence minister, Radu Miruță, said: ‘At 5.01am, the drone was intercepted and destroyed between the localities of Băleni and Cudalbi, in Galați county, in an unpopulated area.

‘Romania defends its airspace, and our allies are with us.’ 

This appears to be the latest of a succession of incursions by Russian drones into NATO states, and came amid a concerted attack on the Odesa region, close to the border with Romania.

But there are suspicions that Putin is deliberately testing NATO responses, using attacks on southern Ukraine as cover.

The swarm of Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region led to flight chaos, with journeys suspended at the capital’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports.

The huge flames and thick black smoke at the Wildberries hub – covering 2.7 million square feet – represents a major psychological blow to Putin. 

The Wildberries online shopping giant – the largest in Russia – is partly owned by senior officials in Putin’s Kremlin power structure, yet Moscow’s air defences have failed to protect it, according to reports. 

After dozens of recent attacks on Wildberries, which supplies Putin’s military machine, the impact is being felt in the Russian economy – with the latest catastrophic blaze set to impact the city’s supply chain.

A second warehouse complex, North Domodedovo, was engulfed in flames this morning, close to one of Moscow’s main international airports.

Governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said the onslaught ends ‘one of the most massive drone attacks in recent times’.

Meanwhile, Russia used North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine overnight.

Kyiv was hit, as was Zelensky’s home city, Kryvyi Rih, in major Russian strikes.

In Kyiv, a fire was reported at a market in the Obolonskyi district, with fires in several districts in the city.

Putin’s forces claimed to have hit the largest mining and metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, as well as the Kryvyi Rih Cement plant along with storage facilities.

The Kremenchuk oil refinery, the largest in Ukraine, was attacked.

British-made drones used by Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory include the Nyan – a jet-powered, carbon-fibre attack drone developed by Wiltshire-based Callen-Lenz, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, The Sunday Times first reported. 

The aircraft has a wingspan of more than 9ft and a reported range of more than 150 miles.

It was reportedly used against Belgorod last year and has since formed part of Ukraine’s expanding deep-strike campaign.

Ukraine has deployed a second unidentified British-made drone, launched by catapult and capable of travelling more than 600 miles.

British systems have reportedly participated in operations targeting Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure during the past six months.

The disclosure over the use of British drones follows Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow missiles in the war, but stocks of these are limited and costs high compared with unmanned planes.

There is no evidence British drones were used in today’s Ukrainian onslaught on Russia.  

Ukraine also launched a ‘massive’ attack on Russia on Friday night and into Saturday morning, targeting a key rocket and space plant that are used in the development of Putin’s Starlink-style satellite internet network.

The strike deployed by Kyiv targeted the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, south-western Russia, President Zelensky said.

A motive behind the attack may have been to disrupt launches of Rassvet satellites – Russia’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink system, which allows Ukraine a secure satellite connection to communicate and operate drones. 

With Russian forces banned from using Starlink, Putin is fast-tracking the development of Rassvet satellites to provide rapid and secure internet connections to control long-range drones and transmit targeting information during attacks on Ukraine.

Vishal Garg expresses a sense of betrayal.

“He’s deceived me,” said Garg, the recently ousted CEO of Better Home & Finance, referring to Daniel Lewis, who succeeded him. “He expressed support for the company’s direction, praised us publicly, and leveraged that to secure a position on our board and gain our trust.”

Garg, infamous for dismissing 900 employees via a Zoom call right before the 2021 holidays, claims he was terminated on August 3, just as he was steering the company toward renewed success.

Under Garg’s leadership, Better experienced turbulent times. During the pandemic, when mortgage rates were below 3%, the company boasted an $8 billion valuation. Now, with the refinancing sector shrinking and interest rates approaching 7%, the AI-driven mortgage firm’s market valuation has plummeted to $300 million.

Adding to the turmoil was Garg’s temporary leave after the notorious Zoom layoffs, a whistleblower lawsuit that was eventually dropped, an unfruitful SEC investigation, and a disastrous SPAC merger in 2023 that slashed the company’s stock by 93%. These challenges, combined with continuous losses, make it surprising that Garg remained CEO for as long as he did.

But Garg says he was just about to deliver on the company’s unlikely turnaround.

After its core refinancing business went belly up, Better’s annual sales plummeted from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $70 million in 2023. This year, the company is on pace to deliver $200 million in sales, he said.

It bounced back by training AI models to quickly process mortgages — a task that would normally take dozens of people several days to accomplish. It partnered with Neo Home Loans, which doubled productivity and reduced loan origination costs by 50%, Garg claims. Impressed with the results, Intuit, Coinbase and OpenAI partnered with Better this year to power their mortgage services. The company also developed a strong home equity line of credit business.

“We’re winning. We’ve tripled loan volume. We’re close to profitability,” Garg said. “We were at the 5-yard line after taking the ball all the way down the field from the other side.”

Garg acknowledges he’s “hard-nosed” and the famous Zoom layoffs severely damaged the company’s reputation — a mistake he knows will continue to haunt him. But as criticized as Garg has been for placing near-impossible demands on the company and its employees, he said Lewis convinced the board he didn’t push hard enough.

Better and Lewis did not respond to a request for comment. On August 4, Lewis posted on X, “There was never a $BETR without @vishal_better. That demands respect.”

‘It’s not about me’