This season’s NFL Coach of the Year race can be classified as an NFC takeover. It feels inevitable that Sean McVay will earn the honor in February after turning a bottom-of-the-barrel Los Angeles Rams team into a division champion and title contender, and morphing Jared Goff into one of the best passers in the league.

Philadelphia’s Doug Pederson, New Orleans’ Sean Payton and Carolina’s Ron Rivera are also in that mix. They’ve rewritten the script for their teams after downtrodden seasons in 2016 (and in the case of the Eagles and Saints, missing the postseason in each of the past three years) and have all three ready for the playoffs.

The award is often given to the coach of a team that defies external (media) expectations. That reason alone should catapult Mike Zimmer’s name among the other top candidates.

Were there any lower expectations than the ones placed on the Minnesota Vikings after they lost Sam Bradford post-Week 1 and top draft pick Dalvin Cook three weeks later?

As we approach Week 17, Zimmer has the Vikings eyeing their 13th win of the season, which would be the second-highest win total in franchise history behind the 1998 squad that finished 15-1.

Mike Zimmer has seemingly used the obstacles he and his team have faced in past seasons to toughen up and thrive. Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports

Case Keenum’s surprise season took him from journeyman backup to MVP candidate, turning a 9-15 record as a starter to 10-3 this season with a career-best 67.3 completion percentage.

What Keenum has meant to this offense and to the Vikings' success cannot be overstated. He -- along with a rebuilt offensive line, a stable of running backs that picked up where Cook left off, two of the best receivers in the league and a top red zone scoring tight end -- helped right the ship when it could have drifted miles off course.

Just like we measure all of a quarterback’s contributions with Total QBR, it’s easy to find the game’s most effective coaches based on the accomplishments of their players. Zimmer’s fingerprints are on every aspect of this team, from a defense on pace to finish No. 1 overall (280.9 yards allowed per game) and in scoring defense (16.1 points per game) for the first time since 1970, to giving offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur the freedom to install a system that turned the Vikings into a Super Bowl contender. The Vikings have won games in tough road environments, and after owning the lowest conversion rate on third down (26.3) in the past 15 seasons, they have converted 48.3 percent on third down this season (third best in the NFL).

Zimmer’s compelling case for this award is based on so much more than what happened early on and how the Vikings were able to defy the odds, win the NFC North and be in line for a first-round playoff bye.

For 23 years as an assistant and coordinator, he worked to earn his shot. That opportunity finally came at age 58 in 2014.

Let’s be honest -- all he’s dealt with has been a slew of ups and downs since he arrived in Minnesota. Adrian Peterson was suspended during Zimmer's first year as a head coach. The Vikings made the postseason in 2015, only to lose by a point in the wild-card round. And if you want to recap everything that went wrong for the Vikings in 2016, read this.

Then this season happened, but unlike before, the Vikings were equipped to handle what was thrown at them because of a handful of critical moves made in the offseason.

Also because of an offensive coordinator who made swift changes in adapting to new personnel.

Also, also because of players who had lived through it last season.

Also, also, also -- but most importantly -- because of Mike Zimmer.

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He’s taken players drafted before he arrived (such as safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Xavier Rhodes) and helped them become the best at their respective positions. Everson Griffen wasn’t even starting when Zimmer took over (he went from 5.5 sacks in 2013 to 12 in 2014), and now he has the fourth-most sacks in the NFL (13) as one of the game’s premier edge rushers.

Zimmer has found the right assistants to help sharpen skill sets and develop young talent, as has been the case with cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander in the early parts of their careers.

In terms of his players, Zimmer knows what he wants. General manager Rick Spielman goes out and fulfills those needs.

Zimmer and Spielman have made an incredible team, landing the talent that will bring the Vikings the most success. As much as we talk about MVP, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, etc., the moves Spielman is ultimately responsible for (landing the biggest steal in the NFL in Keenum, rebuilding the O-line, locking up foundational pieces of the defense in the offseason) should land him as the top candidate for Executive of the Year.

Despite everything they’ve gone through over the past four months, Zimmer’s Coach of the Year candidacy is a culmination of everything he went through the past four years to get to this point. He’s proved that he’s not only a good football coach, but a strong leader too.

That’s what teams want out of a head coach, and Zimmer exemplifies both darn well.