The Josh McDaniels era is over for the Indianapolis Colts. His time there as head coach will be (possibly) remembered mostly by taking his tenure as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and weaving that into some speculation about what he might have done with the Colts.
Who made the bigger jerk exit: Josh McDaniels with the Colts or Bill Belichick with the Jets?
McDaniels spurned a team’s head coaching offer, just like his boss. But which jerk move stands out more?
Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images
And what a magical few hours it was.
It’s reminiscent of what McDaniels’ current boss, the man he’ll probably take over for someday in New England, Bill Belichick did with the Jets in January 2000, when he was head coach just long enough to announce his resignation.
While both now share the honor of having some of the shortest tenures as NFL head coaches, the two eras were a little different. Let’s compare, shall we?
Who lasted longer?
Belichick was there a full day. He actually had a contract, the same one he had as the team’s defensive coordinator. All set to take over from Bill Parcells, who would remain with the team as the operations guy, Belichick had meetings scheduled with the front office and personnel people to plan for the year ahead and another with the medical staff to discuss injured players.
McDaniels didn’t even make it to Indianapolis to deliver a resignation at his introductory press conference.
Why did they bail on their new teams?
Belichick had an offer from the Patriots to be their new head coach and general manager. He truly had the power to build his own team and do it under the supervision of a patient owner, Robert Kraft, with a good reputation for knowing what the hell he was doing. There was also the Parcells factor — he’d always be overshadowed as long as Parcells was still there.
There was no head coaching job waiting for McDaniels to crap out on his prior commitment. When the 2018 season kicks off, he’ll still be the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, albeit a little richer for his effort after the team bumped up his pay for sticking around.
He may be Belichick’s successor in New England, but they can’t guarantee that in writing according to NFL rules.
Who made the better career move?
Well, one guy has five Super Bowl wins and eight appearances. You do the math. It was a dick move by Belichick, but you have to give him props for ultimately taking the better offer. Given the ownership situation, the Jets’ organizational structure at the time and, yes, sheer luck, I don’t think we would have seen anything like the Patriots’ dynasty had he stayed with the Jets.
He’ll go down as one of the — if not THE — greatest coaches in NFL history. Right now, all McDaniels has is being the guy who coached Tom Brady.
McDaniels burned some bridges with his move. Even his own agent told him he was making a mistake by spurning the Colts. It wasn’t like he had a great reputation to begin with, not after his disastrous time as the Broncos’ head coach.
If McDaniels doesn’t eventually take over for Belichick, he might never be an NFL head coach again. (Oh, who are we kidding. This is the NFL, where Jeff Fisher gets 20-plus years to play .500 football. The league never rejects a familiar mediocre white man who’s been around long enough).
Then again, when Belichick leaves, there’s a good chance Brady won’t be there anymore. I just don’t see the Patriots as successful without Brady and Belichick.
Who’s move had/will have a bigger impact?
Belichick, hands down. There’s the whole dynasty thing mentioned above. But it also helped fuel a rivalry between the two AFC East teams. There’s a palpable hate in the air every time these two teams meet.
The Colts-Patriots rivalry isn’t much to begin with. If anything, it’s status quo, the Colts will find another head coach, Andrew Luck may or may not play again, and the Patriots will go on winning for a little while longer. And it’s not like the rest of the NFL didn’t already know McDaniels was a jerk. He just solidified his status.
Which one made the bigger asshole move?
Belichick gets ALL the style points here. He had the job, he was setting about doing head coach things with the Jets, then he changed his mind and used his introductory press conference to tell the world he resigned.
He did have a better offer and the Jets’ organizational structure was set up for problems from the start. None of which makes him any less of an asshat for doing it. But at least he built something.
McDaniels gets zero style points. He just waffled, agreeing to a deal, and then decided to stay put. He’s not going off to build something better or make his own way in the world of professional football. He’s just staying where he’s safe ... safe for now, that is.
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