McDaniels Stiffs Colts; Didn't Trust Irsay

Published on 6-Feb-2018 by Biff BoJock

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Update

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McDaniels Stiffs Colts; Didn't Trust Irsay

This must be the NFL version of The Graduate.

One moral of that story was be wary of the ossified generation.

Another was, until the deal is done, it's never too late to back out.

The question left hanging is what happens now?

 

In a sense, Josh McDaniels isn't the master of his own fate, anymore.

After agreeing in principle to become the Indianapolis Colts' next coach, dude exercised the right to change his mind before signing the contract and decided to remain as OC for the New England Patriots.

Good news for Bill Belichick.

Who knows what it means for the Colts?

 

The word is this development isn't due to Belichick getting set to step down and naming a successor.

It's more about McDaniels taking a longer look at Colts' owner Jim Irsay and having flashbacks to how his time ended at Denver.

And McDaniels does have baggage from his only head coaching stint. Here's former Bronco DJ WIlliams weighing in as part of a podcast from last summer:

 

Time marches on, of course, and there are legions of coaches -- including one McDaniels knows well -- who fared poorly in their first HC gig in the NFL and later became venerated successes.

McDaniels is clearly comfortable where he is:

 

Furthermore, McDaniels was concerned that Andrew Luck wasn't gonna be 100% for a minute.

Clearly, dude shoulda put more thought into that one if it had the possibility of being a deal breaker. Yes, he was immersed in the playoffs, but still. Luck's health isn't that tough to research.

 

It's easy to see, though, that a harder look at Irsay reveals lotsa warts. For example:

And since this is the Patriots involved, never underestimate the presence of skullduggery:

Odds are McDaniels got caught up in the moment with the Colts. It's clear he shoulda thought everything through more thoroughly, but like Dustin Hoffman's and Katherine Ross's characters in The Graduate, maybe the moment caught up with him.