Pats owner yanks head coach candidate away at the last minute
The Indianapolis Colts posted a pitiful 4-12 record in 2017.
That’s the most losses the franchise has had since drafting Andrew Luck, and the second-worst record since1998.
Somehow, the Colts are about to notch one more loss before a single snap of the 2018 NFL season is played.
Josh McDaniels, the highly touted New England Patriots offensive coordinator, has spurned the Colts after all reports and indications were that he would replace the fired Chuck Pagano in Indianapolis.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, McDaniels will return to coordinate the NFL’s No. 1 ranked total offense from 2017.
McDaniels will also be reuniting with both head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, barring an unexpected retirement.
In the 48 hours following his team’s stunning 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, McDaniels was reportedly swayed to stay in New England thanks to team owner Robert Kraft.
It’s an embarrassing snafu for the Colts, who had already scheduled a press conference for Wednesday to introduce McDaniels as head coach after reaching only a verbal agreement with him, not a written one.
Embarrassment may be the key term.
Reports from Schefter also indicate that Kraft was going out of his way to hurt the Colts, which was the primary team responsible for sparking the “Deflategate” scandal.
“That’s Kraft putting it to the Colts again. He will forever try and [expletive] that place ever since [Deflategate],” a league source texted to Schefter.
Kraft reportedly offered McDaniels more money to stay in New England, but that wasn’t the only factor in McDaniels’ decision to stay in Foxborough.
McDaniels also hesitated on the vocation change because he was uncomfortable uprooting his family from New England.
While the Patriots will seemingly continue to operate business as usual on the offensive side, they officially lost defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to the Detroit Lions.
For the Colts, they will have to return to search for a head coach who can maximize on the injured Luck’s prime. The wheels fell off the franchise after Luck injured his throwing arm and needed surgery to repair it. Luck missed the entire 2017 season.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Colts, with many top coaching candidates having already found jobs.
Naturally, McDaniels’ decision to stay in New England has sparked speculation that Belichick’s time is nearing an end.
However, multiple sources have told ESPN’s Mike Reiss that Belichick will definitely be returning in 2018.
In fact, the sources suggest that if Belichick had any plans on leaving soon, McDaniels would have been more likely to leave.
McDaniels reportedly still wants to be a head coach eventually.
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