Josh McDaniels’ first stint as an NFL coach started with the unceremonious dumping of his franchise quarterback and ended with an 11-17 record in less than two seasons with the Broncos.
More than seven years later, McDaniels had a second chance as a head coach with the Colts hiring him to replace Chuck Pagano, However, McDaniels threw a total wrench into plans by spurning the Colts and staying with New England.
McDaniels has spent the past six years as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, drawing up plays for a team that’s advanced to the AFC championship or Super Bowl each year in his tenure.
It was a potentially high-profile signing for a franchise that was one of New England’s biggest rivals throughout the 2000s. McDaniels re-established himself as a commodity in Foxborough and interviewed for multiple positions in 2016 and 2017. But now the Colts are back at square one when McDaniels turned them down.
So why did the Colts want McDaniels?
McDaniels has been, statistically, one of the most successful offensive coordinators of the past decade. Of course, it’s easy to look good when you’ve got human cheat codes like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on the roster. In his last six seasons, his offenses have never ranked lower than fourth in the NFL in total scoring.
While it’s easy to point to the team’s two future Hall of Fame skill players, McDaniels’ influence shines through in his ability to promote unheralded players into big roles and then watch them shine. He’s helped turn formerly anonymous players like Dion Lewis, Chris Hogan, and even Wes Welker into major contributors for New England. The 2017 Patriots finished the season ranked first in total yardage despite the absence of players like Pro Bowler Julian Edelman, Super Bowl 51 hero James White, Malcolm Mitchell, and Hogan.
And why did McDaniels initally want the Colts?
While he didn’t play a single game in 2017 and has more mileage under his belt than most quarterbacks with 76 career starts, Andrew Luck is a singular presence who can spark an immediate turnaround. We saw this in 2012 when he teamed with first-year head coach Chuck Pagano to take a 2-14 team and push it to an 11-5 record as a rookie. He’ll have a similar task ahead of him in 2018, assuming he’s back to 100 percent after rehabbing the shoulder injury that cost him this past season.
For his part, Luck insists that he’ll be back in 2018.
The rest of the Indianapolis roster is filled with holes, but solid draft position and the presence of GM Chris Ballard will provide some quick fixes. Ballard has earned a reputation as a manager who aggressively targets and signs free agents — including useful players like Johnathan Hankins, John Simon, and Jabaal Sheard last offseason. That trio led to modest improvements, but the league’s 30th-ranked defense will have plenty of work to do this offseason.
Offensively, Ballard will have to restock the offensive line that got Jacoby Brissett sacked on a league-high 10.15 percent of his dropbacks. He’ll also have to figure out what to do with his running backs, as veteran Frank Gore will be a 35-year-old free agent in 2018. On the plus side, he’s still got T.Y. Hilton, which should give him plenty of latitude with the team’s playbook next fall.
Maybe Indianapolis dodged a bullet with this non-hire?
McDaniels loses his luster outside the scowling umbrella of Bill Belichick’s influence. While he managed to guide a Kyle Orton-led Broncos team to an 6-0 start in his first year as an NFL head coach in 2009, he’d lose 12 of his next 17 games before Denver decided it had seen enough. The franchise failed to crack the top 18 in scoring offense under McDaniels, taking away the most important asset he’d brought to the table.
More importantly, the emerging head coach handled personnel moves with zero subtlety. He immediately alienated Jay Cutler, then a strong-armed 25-year-old quarterback coming off a 4,500-yard season and a Pro Bowl nod. The sulk-off between the two only ended when the Broncos shipped him to Chicago for two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder, and Orton.
Though history would reflect kindly on that trade, his antics made him an easy target for criticism in Denver. His attempts to foist the Patriot Way (tm) on the Broncos went over poorly, even culminating in a $50,000 fine from the NFL for illegally taping a 49ers walkthrough. Add in several questionable free agent signings and a draft haul that featured Tim Tebow as a first-round pick, and it’s easy to see why the Broncos jettisoned him while they could.
He’d spend the next fall with the Rams. In his one season with St. Louis, he’d pilot the league’s 32nd-ranked scoring offense. Despite that failure, he’d still find the chance to redeem himself with the Patriots after 2011 offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien left to rebuild Penn State’s football program. McDaniels, who was New England’s offensive coordinator from 2006-08, returned to the same role in 2012 and has remained there since.
It’s possible that McDaniels will be Belichick’s successor for the Patriots, or maybe he just got cold feet at the last second. Either way, this latest stunt is just the latest PR disaster for McDaniels, who continues to burn bridges everywhere outside New England.