FOXBOROUGH, Mass - Josh McDaniels time in Las Vegas has come to an end after the Raiders announce late last night (or early this morning depending on the time zone) that they have relieved him of his head coaching duties.
And with that, there were questions among New England fans whether they would consider bringing McDaniels back to Foxborough.
However, Bill Belichick gave a very typical answer when asked about the breaking news.
“Heard about it this morning," Belichick said to reporters on Wednesday morning. "Just trying to get ready for Washington.”
Belichick was then asked if he would consider bringing McDaniels back. But he chose to not comment on the subject.
“Just getting ready for Washington,” he said in response.
This response was also a little telling, with Belichick not using the opportunity to back up his current staff amidst the struggles they have had this season. Bringing in Bill O'Brien was a big move for the organization, but Belichick stayed quiet on how he thinks the new offensive coordinator is doing.
And on top of it, McDaniels served as the offensive coordinator during Mac Jones' rookie season, where the quarterback had his best year since entering the league.
McDaniels first joined the Patriots coaching staff in 2001 and eventually worked his way to becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2006. He remained in that position until 2008, when he was hired as the Denver Broncos head coach.
And there his time was filled with controversy. He was fired part of the way through his second season with the team, getting caught up in a videotaping scandal. This came after the team's director of video operations, Steve Scarnecchia, who McDaniels hired, had videotaped a 49ers walkthrough practice. McDaniels was fined for not reporting the incident when he immediately found out and Scarnecchia was fired.
Following his poor stint as head coach for the Broncos, he served as offensive coordinator for the Rams for a season, but then returned to New England to serve as the offensive assistant coach during the playoffs. With Bill O'Brien leaving after the 2011 season to become head coach at Penn State, McDaniels took over as offensive coordinator.
With the Patriots he went on to win six Super Bowls over his two stints, and his success in New England led to the Raiders giving him a chance despite his first failed attempt as a head coach.
But that one ended similar to how the first one ended.
The Patriots didn't make any moves at the trade deadline, but maybe this is the one big move they plan to make.
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