Even a 10-Hour Interview Was Not Enough to Land Josh McDaniels a Head Coaching Job

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Two days ago I talked about the reports out of Philadelphia that said Josh McDaniels met with the Eagles from "mid-morning" until past 9:00 at night over the weekend discussing their head coaching job. And asked if there is any way possible you could spend that much time in any candidate's presence and offer them the job. 

Well, it's been asked and answered. 

And so it seems that barring some totally unforeseen job offer coming completely out of the blue - and there hasn't been a single rumor that anyone other than Philly was interested, McDaniels is back in New England for another season. His 10th consecutive season as the Patriots coordinator and his 13th in that position for them over his two tours of duty. 

It's hard to believe it, because he was just 33 when he got hired away to be the Broncos head coach in 2009, but McDaniels is getting old there in Bill Belichick's shadow. He's 44 now, meaning Nick Sirianni is five years younger than him. And it will only get harder to land a head job as the Sean McVay Effect (31 when the Rams hired him) sweeps the league. Sirianni is now the sixth coach in the league in his 30s. Plus Kyle Shanahan, Kliff Kingsbury and the new HC of NYJs Robert Saleh are all 41. The other candidates who are still out there include Panthers OC Joe Brady and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, who are 31 and 32 respectively. The way the league is trending, heading into you mid-40s while still an assistant pretty makes you Creed Bratton. 

It's possible the Patriots made McDaniels a tough hire by locking him in with a 5-year deal that pays him $4 million a year in order to get him to turn down the Colts job a couple of years ago. There should be no reason to doubt that some teams have trust issues after the way he went all Runaway Bride on The 2014 AFC Championship Finalists. 

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Even if the move looked positively clairvoyant once Andrew Luck (and now Phillip Rivers) retired.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains McDaniels was in line for one interview last year. And the Giants hired his co-worker Joe Judge before they even spoke to him. And he got one interview this year. Only to get passed over for the OC from the franchise McDaniels turned down in 2019. It's hard to look at that and not recognize the job market is drying up for him. And based on what's happened since he left the Colts in the lurch, it almost seems like some teams are intentionally messing with him. Which, while bad for him, at least gives some much needed continuity for a franchise that right now has no clue who their quarterback will be this year. The last thing they'll need is to have to transition to another offensive coordinator. But right now there's every reason to think the one they have will be going anywhere for a while. 

I should mention Jerod Mayo, who also got an interview with Philly. He's a different cat altogether. For him, it's not a question of if he'll get a head coaching job, but when and where. This was his first interview, but it won't be his last. And it shouldn't take many for him to land somewhere. 

But in the meantime, coach stays.