Soon after the Las Vegas Raiders hired him to be their head coach prior to last season, Josh McDaniels had to ensure calls from fans asking or even begging for him to be fired. The team went 6-11 in 2022 despite possessing ample talent, and after it started this season 3-5, McDaniels was given a pink slip.
He is still a relatively inexperienced NFL head coach (he had previously been at the helm of the Denver Broncos for nearly two years), yet he could find himself on the sideline for another team not too long from now.
It is rumored that the New England Patriots will part ways with longtime head coach Bill Belichick once this season concludes. If that indeed happens, McDaniels could be an option to replace Belichick, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
“If Belichick does move on, speculation has centered on [Jerod] Mayo as his successor. That’s not a guarantee, though, and other options — particular coaches with Patriots ties, such as Josh McDaniels or Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores — shouldn’t be ruled out,” wrote Rapoport and Pelissero in a December 30 column.
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What could make this a reality is the fact that McDaniels was Belichick’s offensive coordinator for many years. He held that role from 2006 to 2008, and after he didn’t get it done as Denver’s head coach, he returned as New England’s offensive coordinator in 2012 and held that role until the 2021 campaign.
However, there is a big difference between being an offensive coordinator, even a successful one, and being a head coach. McDaniels walked into a position of strength last year on a Raiders team that had a solid quarterback in Derek Carr, a star wide receiver in Davante Adams and the NFL’s leading rusher in Josh Jacobs. Yet, he failed to deliver.
Another possibility, according to Austin Boyd of Heavy Sports, is McDaniels again being Belichick’s OC on another team.
“If Belichick goes to another team, there’s a good chance McDaniels could be his offensive coordinator,” wrote Boyd. “The two have a great working relationship and have won a ton of games together. Belichick’s offenses have been terrible without McDaniels calling his plays. Belichick is a defensive mastermind and having a strong presence like McDaniels to totally own the offensive side of the ball is when he’s at his best. It’s still hard to see McDaniels being a head coach again but he should be able to get an offensive coordinator job unless he decides to take a year off.”
What the Patriots need more than anything else is talent. They’re stuck with two substandard QBs in Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe and a lack of reliable playmakers. They will have a very high pick in April’s draft, and it will be interesting to see what position they target with it.
