Josh McDaniels might have made himself a few enemies in NFL coaching circles.
The New England Patriots offensive coordinator will remain in that capacity after he backed out of an agreement Tuesday to become the Indianapolis Colts’ next head coach.
Not only did McDaniels’ change of heart surprise the Colts, it also left several assistant coaches in the lurch: Indy owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard reportedly already had started building out McDaniels staff, even agreeing to contracts with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and defensive line coach Mike Phair.
Eberflus and Phair will remain on Indy’s staff, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. McDaniels leaving those coaches high and dry ruffled some feathers across the sport, including former Colts coach Tony Dungy, who ripped into the Patriots assistant Wednesday while responding to an MMQB article.
Dungy wasn’t McDaniels’ only vocal critic. Former Patriots and New York Jets offensive lineman Damien Woody, now an ESPN analyst, warned that McDaniels’ U-turn could make it very difficult for him to land a head coaching job outside New England.
McDaniels’ agent apparently felt the same way as Woody, reportedly telling his client that backing out of the Colts job could be “the biggest professional mistake of his career.” Then again, McDaniels reportedly does have some sort of “assurance” that he can take the Patriots’ head coach job whenever Bill Belichick steps down.
There’s no doubt McDaniels’ about-face is a controversial decision that could backfire. He didn’t receive universal condemnation, though, as former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels and an unnamed NFL executive took his side.
