McDaniels risking reputation
From the start, it was quite striking that Josh McDaniels was set to bolt the NFL’s Evil Empire to join, of all teams, the Indianapolis Colts.
Yeah, those Colts — the franchise that turned in the New England Patriots, alleging funny business with the collec- tion of supposedly deflated footballs during the AFC title game three years ago.
Now with McDaniels leaving the Colts at the altar, the Patriots have extracted — intentional or not — some serious payback.
“The rivalry is back on,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard grumbled, with his drop-the-mic walk-off line to finish a
news conference on Wednesday.
Never mind that Ballard was working for the Kansas City Chiefs when his predecessor, Ryan Grigson, ignited Deflategate. The decision by McDaniels to renege on his verbal agreement to the Colts reopens the rift between the franchises and burns Ballard, who spent plenty of time working on the potential new coach.
“This is the biggest mistake he’s making in his life,” McDaniels’ nowformer agent Bob LaMonte told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
It’s perhaps fitting that Patriots coach Bill Belichick, McDaniels’ mentor, reneged after serving as the New York Jets coach for one day in 2000. Belichick wrote his infamous resignation letter — “I resign as the HC of the NYJ” — on a napkin.
LaMonte, who was in the intriguing position of representing both McDaniels and Ballard, was unaware that the coach had changed his mind until the two spoke at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, a few hours after the Colts announced they would introduce their new coach on Wednesday.
Before that, LaMonte said it had been 72 hours since he talked to McDaniels, assuming that his client would follow through on the verbal commitment and formally sign a contract. And there was no reason to dispute that as McDaniels was in the midst of saying goodbyes to team staffers on Tuesday.
Then Kraft and Belichick stepped in, with all the urgency of being “on to next season.”
Apparently, after defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was hired by the Detroit Lions, Belichick and Co. — reeling from the upset loss in Super Bowl LII — were determined not to lose their offensive coordinator without a fight.
During an extended meeting, it’s as though Belichick and Kraft put on the type of rush that was missing against Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles.
According to ESPN, Belichick will engage McDaniels in more of the teambuilding components of his job, including salary cap management, which will make him better prepared than he was the first time he landed a head coaching gig with the Denver Broncos in 2009.
Undoubtedly, the money talked, too. It’s likely that McDaniels is now the league’s highest-paid coordinator. But there’s no clause, according to ESPN, that McDaniels will ultimately succeed Belichick, 65, the NFL’s currently longest-tenured coach.
Then again, perhaps there’s merely an “understanding” that McDaniels is the coach-in-waiting, as the Cowboys seemingly had a few years ago to keep Jason Garrett on as coordinator under Wade Phillips.
But who knows whether Belichick is even close to turning in his whistle? If he has a timetable in mind, he’s not tipping his hand. He typically responds with the “year-to-year” theme when asked.
Obviously, he’s still all-in and has already chalked up his first victory of the 2018 campaign. Patriots 1, Colts 0.
Keeping McDaniels allows the Patriots continuity with their offense and the play calling, while a respected buffer between Belichick and Brady remains. And on a personal level, McDaniels’ family, with four children, won’t have to uproot again.
Still, it’s fair to wonder whether McDaniels — believed to have matured since flopping in his first head coaching job with the Broncos — has significantly tarnished his reputation in NFL circles. The Colts have already hired three assistant coaches for his wouldbe staff, who are now working at the team’s headquarters. If McDaniels had serious reservations, he should have expressed them before he started assembling a staff, which impacts the lives of more people.
No, McDaniels is hardly the first coach to draw heat for his maneuvering. Parcells twice pulled out of talks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including once while Tony Dungy was on the job. Bobby Petrino cowardly fled the Atlanta Falcons — and didn’t even face his players — after just 13 games to return to the college level. Doug Marrone opted out of his deal with the Buffalo Bills after two seasons.
Apparently, all is fair in NFL negotiations. And hey, spurning the Jets sure didn’t turn out so bad for Belichick.
Then again, despite the allure of one of 32 NFL head coaching jobs, McDaniels and the Colts just seemed like strange bedfellows.
Some things just are not meant to be.