Josh McDaniels withdraws from Colts' coaching job

[papabear7]

www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000915131/article/josh-mcdaniels-withdraws-from-colts-head-coaching-job

Josh McDaniels withdraws from Colts' coaching job

Austin Knoblauch
NFL.com

Josh McDaniels withdrew from an agreement to become the Indianapolis Colts' head coach and will remain the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator, sources informed of the situation confirmed to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Mike Garafolo on Tuesday. McDaniels' decision was confirmed by the Colts.

"After agreeing to contract terms to become the Indianapolis Colts' new head coach, New England Patriots assistant coach Josh McDaniels this evening informed us that he would not be joining our team," the Colts said in a statement. "Although we are surprised and disappointed, we will resume our head coaching search immediately and find the right fit to lead our team and organization on and off the field."

The surprising development comes after the Colts announced Tuesday morning they had reached an agreement for McDaniels to become their new coach. Although McDaniels hadn't signed his Colts contract, the team had scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

ESPN first reported McDaniels staying in New England.

Compounding the issue is that multiple assistant coaches have signed Colts contracts thinking they'd be working under McDaniels. Former Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Eberflus, who was pegged as McDaniels' defensive coordinator, is among those under contract already. Garafolo reported on NFL Total Access that all indications are Eberflus -- and possibly other coaches -- will remain with the Colts under whomever they hire.

Rapoport added that McDaniels was even offering Colts jobs to prospective assistants on Tuesday before changing his mind about the job.

Multiple reports last month had pegged McDaniels as the Colts' next coach. He was considered one of the top NFL head coaching candidates heading into this offseason. Over the weekend, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported McDaniels was thinking about staying in New England.

The big question is why has McDaniels chosen to stay in New England after being so close to his first head-coaching gig since his stint with the Denver Broncos from 2009-10? The reversal comes two days after the Patriots' 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.

McDaniels won five Super Bowls in New England since joining Bill Belichick's staff in 2001. His tutelage of Tom Brady has played a role in the Patriots' success during the Brady-Belichick era.

The Colts were hoping some of that success would rub off on their franchise, which hasn't made the postseason since losing to the Patriots in the now infamous 2014 AFC Championship Game.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard now faces the unenviable task of trying to find a coach with the prime pool of coaching candidates no longer available. Getting a new coach into Indy before the start of the NFL Scouting Combine likely will be a priority for Ballard in the weeks ahead.

It remains to be seen who will emerge as the leading candidate for Indy's coaching vacancy.

[papabear7]

Surely he has to have received some assurances that he’s Belichick’s successor, right? I mean, if he hasn’t this seems like an awful decision. Possibly sabotaging his chances at a head coaching gig anywhere else. I’d be pretty miffed if I was the Colts right now. And, certainly if I was one of the coaches/assistants that had already signed a contract assuming he was the next head coach.

[GrizzlyBear]

Not that I have any affection for Indianapolis (they're rivals after all) but I do feel bad for them. That's a very bad move by McD. I don't know if Bob Kraft and BB had anything to do with it or this is 100% McD, but this is very unprofessional. You agreed to terms and they announced it via Twitter. Just go to Indy and do your fucking job. 

Quite frankly I understand why so many can't stand NE. They always find a way to cheat and don't seem to like playing by the rules. You never hear these kind of stories in Green Bay or Dallas. The Pats may be a successful franchise but they're also being dicks.

[GrizzlyBear]

Seriously, McD had more than five weeks to think about it. He accepted the gig, let the team announce it on Twitter just to change his mind and leave multiple coordinators and assistants hanging out to dry. What a selfish prick.

[riczaj01]

Apparently there is a sports writer for Indy that has been bitching about this hire for awhile, and is thrilled he saved Irsay and his GM from themselves. It was a fun listen to this AM from him.


I agree btw, I wanted no part of McDaniels after the disaster he created in Den; the Billy B coaching tree isn't one you really want much of a part of either. People thought he learned something from his time in Denver, apparently not he's still all about him; you want no part of this guy on your team.

[papabear7]

www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-dave-mcginnis-josh-mcdaniels-20180208-story.html

Dave McGinnis: Josh McDaniels situation 'not really the same' as his Bears debacle

Phil Thompson
Chicago Tribune

When the Colts announced Josh McDaniels as their next head coach, only to have the Patriots offensive coordinator change his mind, it resurrected memories of the time the Bears jumped the gun on trumpeting Dave McGinnis as their head coach.

But McGinnis said this week that the situations are different.

“It’s not really the same,” McGinnis told the Talk of Fame Network on Wednesday. “I was never offered a contract. I was announced as the head coach before I had even been offered the job.”

On Tuesday, the Colts revealed they hired McDaniels and made plans for a press conference the next day. But hours later McDaniels informed the team that he was backing out of the deal.

According to reports this week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft met with him and may have convinced him that he would be in line to succeed Bill Belichick as head coach one day.

In 1999, the Bears were ready to hire McGinnis but somehow fumbled the handoff. The team issued a press release to media outlets and scheduled a press conference, but all that was news to McGinnis, who hadn’t even talked contract terms.

As McGinnis told Talk of Fame, “I had gone in for a day interview, and they wanted to stretch it to two days, and I said, ‘Sure.’ I spent the night in the hotel room, and the next morning waiting for a call back to come up to finish my interview, and the phone rang. I thought it was the Bears’ front office calling, but it was Les Frazier, who I was going to hire on my staff.

“Les told me he had another job being offered to him, and that if I would just tell him he had a job with him that he would turn the other people down. I told him, ‘Les, I don’t have this job yet; I can’t in good faith tell you that.’ He said, ‘Well, coach, it’s been on the radio for an hour. You’re the head coach. There’s a press conference at 11.’ This is about 8:30 or 9 in the morning. So, yeah, it’s a whole lot different.”

McGinnis walked away from the job and became head coach of the Cardinals. The Bears hired Dick Jauron.The debacle dogged Bears chairman Michael McCaskey’s legacy and 11 years later he was forced out from the role.

When asked in Wednesday’s podcast whether McDaniels had burned too many bridges to ever be offered another job, other than with the Patriots, McGinnis said his owns experience shows you can never say never in this business.

“In a normal world you would assume that, but again, are we living in a normal world right now?” McGinnis said. “i felt back in 1999 I was in ‘The Twilight Zone’ when I got into my car to drive up to Halas Hall to find out what was going on and I turned onto WGN (radio) and it said, ‘11 o'clock, welcome Dave McGinnis, the next head coach of the Bears,’ and I'm Dave McGinnis and I'm driving the car to the press conference. I mean, seriously.

“There's strange things that happen in this league, guys, and this is another one.”

[e-mail]

Twitter @_phil_thompson

[papabear7]

I can't believe how badly the Bears screwed up the McGinnis hire.