Colts GM: “Rivalry back on”
OFFSEASON BATTLE
Colts general manager Chis Ballard showed up for a news conference Wednesday — just not the one he expected.
Instead of introducing Josh McDaniels as the team’s new head coach, Ballard stood in front of reporters trying to explain why New England’s longtime offensive coordinator reneged on a deal he initially accepted.
But if Ballard’s disgust about losing his top choice wasn’t clear from the occasional glare or the strong pitch in his voice, he left no doubt with one parting shot.
“The rivalry is back on,” he said before leaving.
Conducting a coaching search in February isn’t what Ballard or Indy envisioned when Chuck Pagano was fired just hours after Indy completed a 4-12 season on Dec. 31.
Exactly 24 hours after announcing McDaniels’ hiring on the team’s Twitter account and roughly 16 hours after he called back to tell Ballard he was out, the search begins anew for the jilted Colts.
McDaniels sent ripples throughout the NFL with his decision to pull out of an agreement to become the Colts’ coach.
He has yet to speak publicly about what factored into the 11th hour about-face. But McDaniels’ return as New England’s offensive coordinator keeps a possible successor for Patriots coach Bill Belichick in house.
Belichick gave no indication after the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia on Sunday night that he plans to exit in 2018. And last month he said that it was “absolutely” his intention to be back for his 19th season with the Patriots.
But at age 65 he’s also the second-oldest coach in the NFL, behind Seattle’s Pete Carroll at 66.
McDaniels has been one of the hottest names in coaching searches every offseason over the past three years.
At 41, he’s considered one of the NFL’s brightest young minds. What’s more, McDaniels is someone whom Patriots quarterback Tom Brady trusts and recently called “a great coach and a great friend.”
It’s unclear how McDaniels’ decision will affect him regarding future opportunities with other NFL teams, a gamble should he never get the opportunity to lead the Patriots.
Responding to a suggestion that comfort with the Patriots might have played a role in McDaniels’ decision, former coach and current NBC football analyst Tony Dungy said in a tweet Wednesday that “there is no excuse big enough to justify this,” adding it was indefensible to leave the assistant coaches he’s hired in limbo.
Charlie Weis, who was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator from 2000 through 2004 and coached alongside McDaniels, is now an analyst on SiriusXM NFL Radio. During an appearance on Mad Dog Sports Radio he called McDaniels’ decision “unbelievable.”
“I know his agent, Bob LaMonte. I had his agent for 15 years,” Weis said. “And I promise you, with 100 percent conviction, this is against what Bob LaMonte wanted him to do.” Make that former agent. LaMonte terminated his relationship with McDaniels in the wake of McDaniels’ surprising decision.
“My word is my bond,” LaMonte told Sports Business Journal on Wednesday. “Once you break that, there’s nothing left.”
When McDaniels told him he was staying in New England, LaMonte replied that McDaniels was “committing professional suicide.”
LaMonte also is the agent for Ballard. This is not the first time LaMonte and McDaniels have parted ways. They have worked with each other on and off over the years.