5 things you might not know about Josh McDaniels
Josh McDaniels is the New England Patriots offensive coordinator again, after a nine-hour long tenure as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday.
McDaniels agreed to terms with the Colts to take over the head coach position that was vacated when Indianapolis fired Chuck Pagano after a 4-12 season. But after the team announced his hiring, McDaniels had a change of heart and opted to stay with the Patriots, prompting the Colts’ general manager to say, “The rivalry is back on.”
Here’s what you need to know about the Patriots assistant making headlines this week:
McDaniels came through the John Carroll-to-Patriots pipeline
The John Carroll University Blue Streaks, a Division III football team who compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference, have built a surprisingly crowded pathway to the NFL via Foxborough. McDaniels played wide receiver for the Blue Streaks from 1995 to 1998 before launching his NFL career. His quarterback on that team, Nick Caserio, is now the Patriots’ director of player personnel, and there are five other John Carroll alums on the New England coaching staff. McDaniels caught 41 passes for 732 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons for the Blue Streaks, and teammates said at house parties he could usually be found in the corner with Caserio obsessing over football.
His father is a high school coaching legend in Ohio
Josh’s father, Thom McDaniels, coached several different schools on his way to the 1997 USA Today national coach of the year award and a place in the state’s High School Football Coaches’ Hall of Fame. Josh grew up watching game film projected onto the kitchen wall as Thom studied his teams’ tape. Thom’s friend Nick Saban gave Josh his start in the coaching guild, taking him on as a graduate assistant under Saban at Michigan State. Saban shot up the ranks from there, joining the Patriots in 2001 and climbing from personnel assistant to defensive assistant to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator by 2006. McDaniels left New England for three years and two coaching stints elsewhere before returning to the Patriots as offensive coordinator in 2012.
McDaniels drafted Tim Tebow as head coach of the Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos hired McDaniels, then 32 years old, as their head coach in 2009. In his first season at Mile High Stadium, the Broncos went 8-8. The next year they started out 3-9 before McDaniels was fired after Week 13. He then spent a year in St. Louis as the Rams offensive coordinator before returning to New England in 2011. The most notable event in McDaniels’s time with the Broncos was his decision to trade three picks for the opportunity to move up and select Tim Tebow in the first round. Tebow won the Heisman Trophy at Florida, but these days he’s more likely to be Tebowing in a New York Mets affiliate’s dugout or on an SEC Network set than he is to do so on an NFL field.
McDaniels and Tom Brady have a fiery friendship
McDaniels and Tom Brady had a memorable sideline spat against the Bills in December, but the pair’s relationship has led to excellent on-field production. McDaniels, 41, and Brady, 40, are both competitive football obsessives and their partnership resulted in 4,619 passing yards and 32 touchdowns for the Patriots this season. On Brady’s Tom vs. Time docu-series, Brady could be seen calling his coordinator with an idea for a new play, the connection between quarterback and coach evident. Brady said, “I just can’t say enough good things about [McDaniels] and what he’s meant to me and how much he’s taught me, how great of a coach he’s been for me, how he’s got the best out of me, how he motivates me in the offseason. He’s a friend for the rest of my life.”
McDaniels’ brother is also an NFL offensive assistant
Josh’s brother, Ben McDaniels, is the offensive quality control coach for the Chicago Bears. Ben spent time in the collegiate coaching ranks before Josh brought him on board with the Broncos in 2009, first as an assistant then as quarterbacks coach. Both played for their father at Canton McKinley High, where Ben set the school records for passing yards and touchdowns. Thom said that when his sons were young, Ben would play with the other coaches’ sons at the high school practices while Josh studied a copy of the playbook.
