On Tuesday, MassLive’s Mark Daniels reported former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has interviewed with the team for their offensive coordinator position.
This, of course, comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following this story, as Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed on WEEI that McDaniels is on the long list of candidates, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter told WEEI that a McDaniels hire would be “completely logical.”
After all this flirtation through the WEEI airwaves, it appears the official interview has finally taken place.
McDaniels is not the only candidate the Patriots have interviewed, with reports coming down on Friday of interviews with interim head coach Thomas Brown and Chargers passing game coordinator Marcus Brady, as well as a report from Tuesday of an interview with 28-year-old Vikings offensive assistant Grant Udinski.
We also have the list of names ESPN’s Mike Reiss shared during his Sunday notes column, which were as follows:
- Chip Kelly, Ohio State offensive coordinator
- Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator (said to be a longshot by Reiss)
- Mike LaFleur, Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator
- Dave Ragone, Rams quarterbacks coach
- Tim Kelly, New York Giants tight ends coach
- Tony Dews, New York Jets running backs coach
When you take scope of the four reported interviews the Patriots have conducted, along with the list of names from Reiss, the group of offensive coordinator candidates really runs the gamut for New England.
But only one name among this group brings along the pedigree of McDaniels as an OC.
McDaniels has a long, successful history with New England, having previously served as former head coach Bill Belichick’s offensive coordinator in two different stints with the franchise.
During stint No. 1 (2006-2008), McDaniels was credited as the architect of the greatest offense in NFL history, as the 2007 Patriots broke every scoring record imaginable on their way to the only 16-0 regular season in league history. That team, of course, didn’t finish the job in Super Bowl XLII, but that didn’t matter for McDaniels’ profile moving forward. The young assistant was now the hottest name for any and all coaching rumors moving forward.
His success with Tom Brady and Randy Moss inevitably landed him the head coaching job in Denver ahead of the 2009 season, making him the youngest head coach in league history at age 32.
Despite starting his first season 6-0, including a Week 5 upset win over his former team, the Broncos ended up losing eight of their next 10 games to close out the season. And after his team started 3-9 in his second season, McDaniels was fired with a month left in the 2010 season.
After a one-year pit stop in St. Louis in 2011 as their offensive coordinator, McDaniels returned to New England for his second stint as OC, this time staying in Foxborough for 10 seasons (2012-21). The Patriots offense returned to form, winning eight straight AFC East titles on their way to three Super Bowl victories. And in his two seasons post-Brady with New England, he helped a washed up Cam Newton show flashes of brilliance in 2020, and guided rookie Mac Jones to an appearance in the Pro Bowl in 2021.
This led to McDaniels getting another crack at head coach, this time with Las Vegas. But after going 6-11 in his first season with the Raiders in 2022, the questions of McDaniels’ ability to lead an entire operation reemerged.
With his team starting the 2023 season 3-5, the seat got too hot, and McDaniels was canned midseason from a head coaching gig yet again.
McDaniels, now 48, did not work in the league in 2024. And for how badly he “flamed out” in Vegas in 2023, that’s not surprising. But the important thing to remember with McDaniels is this:
All of his professional failures came while as a head coach.
As an offensive coordinator, there are few in the history of the league with a CV like his.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Patriots’ coaching staff in the coming weeks.