Josh McDaniels has backed out of a deal to become the Indianapolis’ Colts new coach Authentic Mitchell Marner Jersey , a decision that shocked the franchise hours after it announced his hiring.
The Colts confirmed McDaniels’ decision in a statement Tuesday night after reports emerged that the Patriots’ offensive coordinator had opted to stay in New England with coach Bill Belichick.
McDaniels had agreed to contract terms with the Colts to replace the fired Chuck Pagano, and a news conference had been scheduled for Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Just a few hours later, the Colts said McDaniels informed them he would not sign the deal.
”Although we are surprised and disappointed, we will resume our head coaching search immediately and find the right fit to lead our team and organization on and off the field,” the Colts said in the statement.
The Patriots and McDaniels’ agent, Bob LaMonte, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
”I’m speechless,” former Colts receiver Reggie Wayne told NFL Network. ”I’ve talked with people in the Colts organization and they feel like they’ve been hoodwinked.”
It’s also not clear how the Colts will proceed from here.
By spurning Indy after it waited 22 days for the playoffs to end, McDaniels leaves the reeling franchise as the only one without a coach – in early February. New England’s defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia Morgan Rielly Jersey , left Belichick’s staff a day after the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss to become coach of the Detroit Lions.
Indy had interviewed several candidates for the job, including two that were hired by other teams – Matt Nagy went to Chicago and Mike Vrabel to Tennessee. Another potential candidate, Baylor coach Matt Rhule, had already announced he was returning to the college ranks before the Colts had settled on McDaniels, who at age 41 is considered one of the game’s best young minds.
He’s been considered a top-tier head coaching candidate for several years even though his only other coaching stint with Denver ended badly. He went 8-8 with the Broncos in 2009 and 3-9 in 2010 before he was fired with three games left in the season. He worked with the St. Louis Rams in 2011 before returning to New England in 2012, where he has been the offensive coordinator ever since.
And turning down his second chance, after agreeing to a deal with Indy, could make other teams outside of New England more hesitant to hire McDaniels. His decision will also have ramifications for the coaches who were set to join his staff.
It’s unusual but not unprecedented in league history for a deal with a new coach to fall through at the last minute. McDaniels’ move was eerily reminiscent of his mentor, Belichick, who resigned as coach of the Jets with a handwritten note less than a day after he was hired in 2000.
Although McDaniels never signed his contract with Indianapolis Nazem Kadri Jersey , his stint was even shorter. The team announced his hiring on its Twitter account late Tuesday morning. Hours later, the Colts had deleted the tweet and replaced it with the statement about his withdrawal.
Pagano was fired Dec. 31 after the team finished 4-12 in a season without injured quarterback Andrew Luck.
Within days of Pagano’s ouster, Colts general manager Chris Ballard interviewed McDaniels during the Patriots’ postseason bye week. Two weeks later, reports indicated the deal was all but finished and potential suitors, like the New York Giants, started hiring other coaches.
Now the Colts find themselves in perhaps the toughest position of all – finding a new coach in February.
In Indianapolis, where the fan base already loathed the Patriots, McDaniels’ sudden change of heart didn’t go over well.
The City of Noblesville, a northern suburb of Indy, put this on Twitter: ”Unlike Josh McDaniels Nikita Zaitsev Jersey Kids , we stay true to our commitments. Noblesville street crews will be out tonight once winter weather hits you can `do your job’ tomorrow.”
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The NFL said Thursday it will investigate whether the Oakland Raiders violated the ”Rooney Rule” when they hired Jon Gruden as coach.
The Fritz Pollard Alliance called for the investigation on Wednesday out of concern that Raiders owner Mark Davis came to an agreement with Gruden before the team interviewed any minority candidates as required by the NFL since 2003.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement that the NFL will ”look into this.”
The Fritz Pollard Alliance is dedicated to promoting diversity and equality of job opportunity in the coaching, front office and scouting staffs of NFL teams.
Davis said Tuesday at the news conference introducing Gruden as the team’s new coach that he had been trying to make the move for six years and finally believed it would happen after a meeting in Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, the day before Gruden worked a game between the Raiders and Eagles on ESPN.
”I felt pretty confident that he was all-in,” Davis said. ”And that’s the term that we were using in our discussions and everything, are you all-in? And I never wavered from all-in. And this time he didn’t waver, either.”
Davis fired Jack Del Rio a week later and the team officially hired Gruden on Jan. 6. Davis also said he wouldn’t have fired Del Rio if he didn’t believe Gruden would sign on as coach.
”I believe that I would’ve sat down with Jack and we would’ve figured out coordinators and assistant coaches and things like that and try to figure out how to reinvigorate the franchise through Jack,” he said.
Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said Tuesday he interviewed two minority candidates before Gruden’s hiring was announced. Those candidates were Oakland tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and Southern California offensive coordinator Tee Martin.
The Raiders haven’t commented on the request from the Fritz Pollard Alliance.
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