When Josh McDaniels spurned the Indianapolis Colts and elected to return to the New England Patriots, many assumed the offensive coordinator received assurance he’d one day replace Belichick as the Patriots’ head coach.
And some ensuing reports seemingly gave validity to that notion.
However, McDaniels has received no such gaurenttee, according to former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest. The NFL Network analyst spoke about his recent conversation with McDaniels during Friday’s episode of “NFL Total Access.”
“I listen to a lot of people talk about it like he’s taking over for Belichick in the next year or two,” McGinest said. “That’s Bill Belichick. Nobody’s just going to push him out of coaching. Ownership and Belichick have enough respect, especially Josh, for each other to know that that’s never going to happen.
“But there is a situation where at some point Belichick may retire, but it’s not going to be in the contract, and you’re not going to tell him when he’s going to retire. Too much respect and because he’s the greatest coach to ever do it, it’s never going to happen.”
Well, there you have it.
Both before and after the Patriots’ disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, many have speculated Belichick might not return next season. But the 65-year-old reportedly is “locked in” to coaching in 2018, and it’s looking more and more like talk of his retirement was vastly premature.
