Josh McDaniels isn’t waiting on Bill Belichick, wants to be a head coach again

Houston Texans v New England Patriots

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is tired of hearing others talk about what he’s going to do with his career.

The most popular theory is McDaniels will wait around for Bill Belichick to retire and take over the Patriots.

This theory is so strong, in fact, McDaniels didn’t even make the list of 2017 head-coach candidates provided by the NFL Career Development Advisory Panel. That was the tipping point for McDaniels, who spoke with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:

I’m aware of the report and I’ll try to clear that up. I definitely said it before and I’ll say it again: I definitely would love to be a head coach again. There are only 32 of those in the world. They’re opportunities that don’t come along very often, and if you would ever be so fortunate and blessed to have another opportunity to do it, and for myself it would be for a second time, it would be an opportunity that I would look forward to. It would have to be at the right place at the right time, which is what I’ve always said. I try to make decisions [based on] what’s best for my family and myself. Again, somebody would have to offer that opportunity. You’re lucky if you get that. That’s my mindset.

Bill Belichick also commented on the list, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss:

McDaniels spent a year and change with the Denver Broncos. He led the team to an 8-8 finish in 2009 and followed with a 3-9 mark before getting canned.

Whether McDaniels makes the final list isn’t a big deal—coming from the Belichick tree, he’s sure to see another chance eventually. And with Belichick not seeming close to retirement, it probably won’t come with the Patriots. Either way, McDaniels hasn’t given up.

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