Five years ago, the Indianapolis Colts announced that Josh McDaniels was their new head coach, only for him to back out the same day and return to the New England Patriots. The move was bizarre and led to criticism and backlash for McDaniels.
There was speculation that the Patriots made some sort of promise to McDaniels that he would succeed Bill Belichick, but that never materialized. McDaniels was even dropped by his agent after backing out on the Colts.
To this day, it’s been a mystery why McDaniels backed out on Indy. One report suggested that McDaniels had second thoughts about working for Colts owner Jim Irsay.
Five years later, Dan Dakich seems to have confirmed that report, while adding some interesting information.
Dakich, the former Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach and a current radio host, reported Wednesday that McDaniels backed out of the job due to Irsay. Specifically, Dakich said that McDaniels’ wife made him back out because of “odd behavior” Irsay displayed at the McDaniels’ home, which included spending an hour in their bathroom.
“McDaniel’s wife made him pull the plug after having Irsay in their home in Massachusetts & observing his odd behavior. Behavior that included being in the McDaniel’s family bathroom for a very long & awkward period of time,” Dakich tweeted.
Things worked out well for the Colts. They ended up hiring Frank Reich, who proved to be an excellent coach (even though Irsay fired him after a 3-5-1 start to this season). McDaniels remained with the Patriots until last season, when he took the Raiders job. He went 6-11 this season.
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