There have been a number of question marks surrounding the Patriots of late, but the most pressing might be how they managed to sway Josh McDaniels back to New England.
McDaniels appeared to have his bags packed for Indianapolis to become the next head coach of the Colts, but he decided to withdraw from the position the night before his planned introductory press conference. Instead, McDaniels will be returning to the Patriots in the 2018 season as their offensive coordinator.
We’ve yet to hear from McDaniels regarding his flip-flop, as New England’s OC has remained out of the spotlight since the Patriots’ Super Bowl LII loss. But Sunday, we gained some clarity on the issue from the unlikeliest of sources: Bill Belichick.
Belichick met with a group of reporters Sunday in Orlando, Fla. at the NFL Annual Meeting. While the Patriots head coach remained characteristically mum on most controversial topics surrounding New England, he did shed some light on the McDaniels situation, which appeared to be a priority for the organization following the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Once that game ended, I think that really gave Josh and I a chance to sit down and talk more directly about the situation, as opposed to, ‘We really want to talk about the game and what we need to do to try to compete in that game.’ That’s basically what happened,” Belichick said, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “Before the game, I’d say we had minimal discussions. I’d say we had much deeper and longer and more in-depth and more constructive discussions immediately after the game.”
Belichick, of course, didn’t explain how he and the Patriots’ brass managed to convince McDaniels to stay in town, but he’s clearly excited that everything worked out.
“We got back from Minnesota, I had an opportunity to talk to Josh, and we were able to work some things out. I’m thrilled he’s still with us and is going to continue in his role. I think he’s a top offensive coordinator in the league. He’s done a great job for me for a long time in a lot of different roles. I’m very glad, based on the meeting we had — there were a number of things that happened — that we were able to work that out and keep him with us.”
