Your future head coach
Kraft pulls off move to keep McDaniels
Say hello to the next head coach of the New England Patriots: Josh McDaniels.
The only question left to answer is when will that transition happen.
The fact Robert Kraft reportedly made a Tom Bradylike rally in the 11th hour to hasten McDaniels’ to return to Foxboro as the offensive coordinator, and have him back out of an agreement to coach the Indianapolis Colts, speaks volumes.
Let’s remember Kraft went out and got Bill Belichick the same way 18 years ago. The Hoodie also reneged on a deal to coach the New York Jets before arriving in New England with Kraft ultimately surrendering a first-round pick.
Last year, McDaniels was enticed by the possibility of coaching in San Francisco, but Kraft opened up the purse strings and paid him more money to stay.
It went down to the wire this time, with the Colts making an announcement on Twitter they’d hired McDaniels yesterday morning. The parties “agreed to terms” but had not technically signed a contract. That left enough wiggle room for Kraft to slide in and ruin the party at Lucas Oil Stadium.
When the Patriots owner has his eye on a target, he usually lands the prize. He got Belichick, and it would appear, he’ll have McDaniels whenever the Hoodie decides to ride off into the sunset, assuming they go through the necessary interviews to satisfy the Rooney rules.
Belichick is at least under contract to coach for the 2018 season, per reports. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. Maybe Belichick’s time frame for departure is coming sooner than anticipated, and that’s why Kraft had to make sure he had the heir apparent in place.
Whatever the case, whenever Belichick leaves, it will be McDaniels. The move pretty much assured McDaniels won’t get another job now. No team will trust him enough to hire him. So it’s the Patriots head job or bust.
And, making it even sweeter for Kraft, he got to zing the Colts in the process. He gets a measure of revenge for Deflategate against the organization that started it all, as it was the Colts who called into question the air pressure in footballs during the 2014 AFC Championship Game.
The Colts sent out a statement last night saying they were “surprised and disappointed.” So now they have egg on their face and have to start again, ultimately selling another candidate who was their second or third choice.
As for the Patriots, Kraft basically assured continuity in the offense for now with McDaniels returning, and he’s also assured continuity with Belichick’s legacy, having someone follow who’s learned under the Hoodie. No doubt, he probably sees a lot of Belichick in McDaniels.
After coaching the Denver Broncos in 2009 and part of 2010 before being fired (he was 11-17 overall), McDaniels has tried to learn from that failure. His career has been largely successful thanks to his work as the Patriots offensive coordinator.
Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia is a huge fan of McDaniels, and during Super Bowl week raved about him to the Indianapolis Star.
“I honestly think Josh is the best football coach I’ve ever been around. I think he’s a brilliant guy,” Scarnecchia said. “I think he’s an unbelievably hardworking guy. I think he sees the game from a very broad perspective and can speak in detail about how to coach each position. I love working with Josh. I would not have come back here two years ago if he were not here. I really like the guy a lot.”
That’s a huge endorsement.
McDaniels also gets Brady’s endorsement.
The Patriots offense has flourished under McDaniels, who has had the benefit of coaching, and developing, a close relationship with the Patriots quarterback. That relationship has been an important one and will continue to be one going forward. McDaniels will be coaching Brady in his final years and grooming his successor.
The “Tom vs. Time” documentary revealed some interesting behindthe-scene nuggets regarding that relationship. The second episode provided a glimpse at how they work. It’s a constant back and forth with Brady watching plays, sending voice memos, with McDaniels taking in the information and responding with feedback of his own. It’s very much a collaboration.
It hasn’t always been pretty, with the sideline blowup in Buffalo in Week 13 this season an example. Brady is demanding and expects a lot from his coach. That decade of shared time and experience, however, means a lot.
“He wants to kill me sometimes, and believe me, I want to kill him sometimes,” Brady said of McDaniels in the documentary. “But I think we have a great deal of respect and trust and love for one another because we know once we come together on game day that we’re both giving it everything we’ve got and we’re doing the best we can.”
Brady won’t have to break in someone new with McDaniels staying. That’s also huge.
So Kraft did his best Brady impression, keeping McDaniels with the game on the line, tweaked the Colts for good measure, and ultimately in the big picture, got his man for the long run.