The Andrew Luck Saga Proves Josh McDaniels is a Genius
As brilliantly eloquent, to the point of poetic, as Bill Belichick’s take on Andrew Luck’s retirement was this afternoon, the man we really deserve to hear from in all this has yet to weigh in.
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And make no mistake, Josh McDaniels is in a position to deliver history’s greatest “I told you so” since Churchill. Or at least since that time I was at a buddy’s wedding to a girl he’d known less than a year and she was engaged to somebody else at the time. And me and our friends were all sitting in the pews asking each other how this could possibly work out. It didn’t. They were divorced about a year later. The point is, sometimes a smart person can sense trouble coming before it’s obvious to the rest of the world. And Josh McDaniels is one such man.
Just as a refresher, here was just some of the reaction he got when he reconsidered taking the Colts’ job.
From legendary Deflategate Truther Gregg Doyel on IndyStar:
Josh McDaniels is a punk and a loser … He’s one of the biggest frauds in the NFL. … What becomes of that rat is of no concern to me, not anymore, now that he has removed himself from our city and saved the Colts from themselves. … Josh McDaniels is a selfish little jerk, and he has succeeded only with Bill Belichick as his head coach and Tom Brady as his quarterback. … [I]magine how much damage he would have done here in three years
Reggie Wayne says the Colts feel “hoodwinked.” A great word. Especially coming from a guy who got a $5 million bonus to come to New England and left camp after two days.
SI made with the obvious GIF:
The obvious, low-hanging fruit jokes were not far behind:
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Though ultimately, Patriots fans were victorious in the Battle of McDaniels:
Say what you will about McDaniels’ timing. Argue that he shouldn’t have committed to the job, hired assistants and then uncommitted to the job. But to beat the obvious wedding analogy to death, it’s better to break off the engagement than to go through with the ceremony, pay for the hall, the caterer and the DJ, and accept everyone’s gifts of dinner ware and small appliances, only to find yourself in a bad marriage you’ll just annul later on.
It’s quite possible the Colts were acting in bad faith, either intentionally or unintentionally. Luck was fresh from missing the entire 2017 season, so it’s possible they knew he could be reaching the end of the line. Either way, if McDaniels had taken the job, it was under the false pretenses that he’d be running his offense through one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the league. Instead what he would’ve walked into was pure chaos. The coaching staff and the front office saying contradictory things about Luck’s condition. Luck, by his own admission, losing his passion for football and all the rehab he had to endure in order to continue.
McDaniels would be transitioning his new team from their franchise QB to (with all due respect) Jacoby Brissett. He would’ve found himself in a rebuild, just like he did in Denver. Only this would be his second shot as an NFL head coach. Few beyond Pete Carroll ever get a third if they don’t win at their first two. McDaniels’ head coaching career would effectively be over, and he’d be looking at life as a coordinator, hoping he’d find himself in just the right situation. Which is exactly where he has been since relinquishing the crown in Indy.
He’ll never not be a supervillain in the eyes of Colts fans, ex-players, management and their fawning press. They can call him a punk, a loser, a rat and a jerk. But the one thing they have to call him is “genius” for being the one guy with the common sense to walk away from this Colts shitshow before it did permanent damage to his career.