As was expected, both of the Patriots coordinators were announced as head coaches of 2 different teams yesterday. Matt Patricia, their defensive coordinator, took the head job in Detroit. Josh McDaniels, their offensive coordinator, took the head job in Indianapolis. These were foregone conclusions that these guys were leaving.
Matt Patricia left without much fanfare. Some people are now doubting him because of the Super Bowl, but as Tony Kornheiser said on "PTI" yesterday, "if you base a hire on one game, you're crazy". No new details have emerged about who he will try and bring along with him, but I wish him luck. I like chunky dudes with beards, as I am one myself.
At the opposite end of the hype expressway, the reporting on McDaniels taking the Colts job was extensive. I was watching basketball while all this was going on, and he had already been linked to 2 guys as his coordinators, plus another hire, possibly special teams. He seemed to have his coaching staff almost set in stone. I figured he was ready to take another head coaching job after his first go around with the Broncos. He did not do a good job in Denver. His teams just weren't that good offensively, which is his forte. After he was fired there, he went back to New England. He has since excelled since going back. The Patriots offense has been great, and a lot of that is his play calling. Hell, even in the Super Bowl, he called a 600 yard plus performance. So, as I said, I felt that he was ready to return as a head coach. He left too young, came back where he was comfortable, grew up and taking a head coaching job was definitely the next step.
Well, like a god damn coward, only a few short hours after all the talk of his staff and everything on ESPN, he backed out of the job and said he wanted to return to New England. This is a punk move. The last time I remember something like this happening was when Billy Donovan took the Orlando Magic job, then backed out and retuned to the University of Florida. I felt then like I feel now about McDaniels. Donovan got scared and punked out and the Magic were left trying to find a new coach in a very short amount of time. What makes the McDaniels situation different is that he has already been a head coach in the NFL, he verbally agreed to become the Colts coach and he started to get a staff together. Donovan did none of that. At least he gave the Magic a chance to keep some people from the current leftover staff. McDaniels has left the Colts stumbling. They put all their eggs in the McDaniels basket, and like a little baby, he backed out at the very last minute. He decided he wanted to return to New England and be under Brady and Belichek's thumb for what will probably be the rest of his career.
In my mind, Josh McDaniels has killed any chance to be a head coach anywhere in the NFL, except for New England. No other team should ever pursue him to be their head coach. If I was an owner of a team that needed a coach and someone came to me with McDaniels name, I'd tell them to get the hell out of my office. He can never be trusted by anyone outside of New England. He will forever be a pariah. This isn't a situation where in a year or two he can try and hope people will just forget about his actions. This was national news yesterday and this morning. When I turned on my computer to write it was the second story on Yahoo's homepage. Everyone knows about his cowardly move to back out and return to the Patriots. I've read a lot of different stories from both sides of the NFL. As far as people like me, the people who think he did something childish and dumb, we all agree. If he does something like this now, he will never be ready to be a head coach. He probably feels like he cannot win without Brady and Belichek. He should be forever a coordinator. The title of head coach is too big for him. He can't handle the pressure of game planning and being the one who has to fall on the sword when things don't go well. Look at the recent Super Bowl for example. No one is dragging his name in the mud. The Patriots loss has been pinned on Patricia and Belichek. People are actually praising McDaniels play calling.
For the people who think he made the right choice, only people in Boston, have come up with ridiculous excuses as to why this is a good move. They have said things like, Robert Kraft will do anything to screw over the Colts for deflategate. They say that McDaniels doesn't think that Andrew Luck is elite. They say that he is just more comfortable with Brady, and McDaniels is the only guy that Brady trusts as much as Belichek. They say that he came back because he will be the Patriots head coach as soon as Belichek retires.
To all of this I say bull shit. First off, screw Robert Kraft and the Patriots front office. You dickheads have been to 8 Super Bowls in the last 18 years. They have won 5 of them. Get over yourselves and stop messing with the Colts. You already bested them on and off the field. You won the war. As far as the Andrew Luck slander, I say again, get over it. He has been hurt. But, when he plays there is no question that he is one of the better starters in the NFL. He does things that a lot of guys cannot do. He plays hard, throws well and can run a little bit. Yes, he cannot stay healthy, but when he plays, he is good. He isn't as good as I thought he was going to be, but he is still pretty good.
Maybe McDaniels has become comfortable with Brady, and Brady trusts him, but Brady will be 41 years old next season. I know he just went for 500 yards in the Super Bowl, but again, he will be 41. Father time will win. I don't care how many avocados he eats or how much water he drinks, Tom Brady has maybe one decent season left. To be honest with you, any time he took a hit in the last 2 Super Bowls I thought he might have to be carted off the field. He does have good arm strength still, can hit the open man and is probably the best QB to ever play, but he is old and he cannot play forever. McDaniels is going to have to deal with that reality sooner rather than later.
Which brings me to the last thing. If he is the Patriots head coach in waiting, how is that a better situation than the Colts right now? Who will be his QB? Who will be his receivers? Who will run the ball for him? Which QB on that current roster is better than Luck? These are all real questions he will get crushed by when Belichek leaves and he is left with a scorched roster of very little NFL talent. Brady's current backup is Brian Hoyer. Brian Hoyer stinks. He is trash and he is old. Will they draft a QB, maybe. But, all the good QB's by the time they pick will be gone. They will have to reach in the later rounds, and they will not get another Tom Brady. That was a once in a lifetime lucky pick. And when Brady is gone, the new QB will have to throw to a brand new crop of receivers. Gronk will be gone soon. Amendola should retire. So should Julian Edelmann. Brandin Cooks took a vicious hit in the Super Bowl that would have me questioning if I wanted to come back. Chris Hogan needs a Tom Brady type QB to make him relevant. The receiving corps will be done. Running backs will be just as rough. Dion Lewis is old. James White is a pass catcher, but again, he won't have Brady throwing him the ball. Rex Burkhead is slow, plodding and a very, very poor man's Danny Woodhead. Mike Gillisilee will be on a new team next year. Look, the entire offense that McDaniels will take over when Belichek leaves will be one of two things, either extremely young and inexperienced, or just flat out bad and old.
Josh McDaniels lost any credibility he had with me and probably any GM outside of New England with this punk ass move. He is a coward. He is a child. He cannot handle being the man in charge. He will forever be looked at as a leech, a hanger on and a baby. This is a very bad look for him, and I fully expect him to regret this decision in the long run. The Colts dodged a bullet, and McDaniels will never, ever be looked at the same again. He is a punk.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty took a job one time he did not want at all. He gave them 4 hours and left on his lunch break to never return. Ty was more loyal than Josh McDaniels.
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