Major Update on Patriots’ Josh McDaniels’ Coaching Future

Could Josh McDaniels end up staying with the New England Patriots after all?

Following the Carolina Panthers‘ head coaching hire of former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule and the New York Giants‘ head coaching hire of former Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge, McDaniels is left with two options — become the Cleveland Browns‘ new head coach or remain with New England as the team’s offensive coordinator.

As WEEI’s Courtney Fallon reports, there’s a 50/50 chance that McDaniels remains with the Patriots. He is scheduled to interview for the Browns’ head coaching gig on Friday.

As Fallon reports, Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski is still in the mix for the Browns’ head coaching job. Stefanski is scheduled to interview for the Browns job on Thursday.

McDaniels initially had three interviews for head coaching jobs scheduled this week. Unfortunately for the 43-year-old offensive coordinator, both the Panthers and Giants made moves with their head coaching hires before even interviewing McDaniels.

Although McDaniels is the betting favorite to land in Cleveland, if the Browns elect to go with Stefanski, McDaniels would have no choice but to return to the Patriots.

According to a report from Andy Gresh of CBS Sports Radio in New England, there is “zero percent chance” that McDaniels takes the job in Cleveland.

“Zero,” Gresh said when asked what the chances were of McDaniels coaching the Browns. “When you just look at the jobs that are open, look at Carolina for example, you’re motivated because there’s a new owner who’s probably ready to give you the store. You’ve got the seventh pick, you’ve got $60 million in cap space and you can get rid of Cam Newton. There’s that piece to it in terms of the other jobs to compare it to.”

As Gresh details, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would play a role in this as he would likely advise McDaniels to choose a place where there’s good ownership. Of course, the Browns haven’t made the playoffs since the 2002 season and Belichick infamously failed as the coach of Cleveland before he was fired following the 1995 season.

“A lot of these guys who coach under Belichick, he’s kind of like Yoda to a lot of them,” Gresh said. “Would Bill Belichick put the stamp of approval on the ownership in Cleveland? He didn’t like the ownership of the Jets. The one thing he has told his assistants is, ‘Make sure you have good ownership.’”

McDaniels previously served as a head coach for the Denver Broncos for two seasons back in 2009 and 2010. He went a combined 11-17 before he was dismissed as head coach in the middle fo the 2010 season.

He would have the opportunity to coach an up-and-coming team with loads of young offensive talent in Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.

Gresh played up McDaniels’ offensive resume, noting how he’s led four different teams to a Super Bowl title as the offensive coordinator.

“He’s only coordinated four offenses that have gone on and won Super Bowls, so if everyone wants to erase what’s gone on in the past and look at what this guy has been able to do and say, ‘Well, he’s the same guy he was in Denver 10 years ago,’ then I think somebody is going to miss out on an offensive mind,” Gresh said.

“He knows offense. This guy can coach offense. Yes, he’s had Tom Brady, and that’s a hell of a luxury to have, no doubt, but the question, to me, is ‘How much power do you want to give him?’ and ‘Do you allow him to go out and get a quarterback that runs the offense he likes to run?’”

We should know McDaniels’ coaching future in the near future. If he strikes out on the Cleveland job, he should be back for another season on the Patriots’ sideline.

 

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