New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels recently rejected the indianapolis colts head coaching job to remain as an assistant to Bill Belichick. One of the reasons mentioned by McDaniels to former Patriot Willie McGinest was that he didn’t want to uproot his family from New England to Indianapolis. However, Peter King of MMQB told Pro Football Talk that family was not the reason why McDaniels opted to remain with the Patriots. According to King, football is the main reason why McDaniels decided to not accept the head coaching job with the Colts to remain as offensive coordinator.
“This had nothing to do with his family,” King stressed. “It was about the Patriots giving him a better option than Indianapolis.”
King also said that McDaniels is more comfortable on Robert Kraft’s team than Jim Irsay’s team. King also speculated that McDaniels saw something that he didn’t like about the Colts, but it was definitely not family related. “He has to have thought there were some things wrong in Indianapolis,” King said.
McDaniels changed mind after Colts’ announcement
The Colts already announced the hiring of McDaniels as head coach when the offensive coordinator decided to remain with the Patriots. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Patriots agreed to sweeten McDaniels’ contract. Also, Belichick promised McDaniels that he would take him under his wing and show him how he makes important coaching decisions, such as roster building and managing the salary cap.
The Colts eventually signed Frank Reich as head coach, replacing the fired Chuck Pagano.
Colts hire one Patriots coach
Earlier, it was reported that McDaniels would bring special teams coach Joe Judge and assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski to the Colts. However, the three decided to stay with the Patriots. The Colts, however, succeeded in attracting another Patriots coach, hiring assistant special teams coach Ray Ventrone as their special teams coach.
Ventrone played 10 seasons in the NFL, including four with the Patriots. The Colts also hired Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator and Nick Sirianni as offensive coordinator. The Colts also named Rusty Jones their director of sports performance.
In a video chat on Colts.com, quarterback Andrew Luck said he’s excited to run Reich’s multiple, attack, up-tempo offense.
Luck believes that he will learn from Reich, who was a backup quarterback for 13 seasons in the NFL. Reich also worked with Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Nick Foles in his coaching career.
