Three reasons why Josh McDaniels turned down the Indianapolis Colts job

In a shock move last night, New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels backed out of the Indianapolis Colts head coach position.

Just over three years ago, Tom Brady got caught up in ‘Deflategate’ during a playoff game against Indy, and it looks as though the Patriots organisation have once again left the Colts with deflated balls.

The two franchises have held a long-contested rivalry; stemming from the postseason battles between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, before Andrew Luck picked up the pieces in 2012.

Make no mistake, the appointments of Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels to head coaching jobs were expected for the last couple of years – and it’s probably a surprise it’s gone on this long. Such is the New England lure for other teams, that many are keen to forget his ill-fated tenure at Denver.

Due to the NFL interview process and appointment protocol, McDaniels couldn’t have been confirmed as the Colts new head coach until after the Super Bowl. He was – and last night, it was revealed that he withdrew his interest.

Why? Because Bill Belichick does what he wants. But on a more serious note – why? There’s a few explanations.

He’s been promised the New England job

This is a fairly popular theory. There’s a real sense of ‘end of the road’ from New England at the moment, following Matt Patricia leaving for Detroit, Brady turning 41 in August and having just lost a Super Bowl in convincing enough fashion.

Bill Belichick, in this writer’s opinion, is the greatest coach of all time – across all codes.

He’s now sixty-five, his legacy is cemented and New England is starting to look like a rebuilding phase. There’s no way the Nashville native would see the end result of that rebuild, so what’s keeping him there?

As was the case with Ferguson and Manchester United, Bill will likely be heavily consulted on his successor. It’s very, very hard to turn down a head coaching position in the NFL, regardless of the team you’re departing. Unless, of course – he is the chosen one in Foxboro.

Andrew Luck is crocked

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a serious job to be done in Indianapolis if the Colts are to be successful again any time soon. However, they differ from teams like the Giants who just need a new quarterback, in that they have their franchise signal-caller.

Luck was the best quarterback prospect to come out of college football in the last 10 years.

The only downside with Luck, is that he’s struggled with injuries.

He injured his shoulder in 2015 and it hasn’t been right since. Despite playing all but one game in 2016, he would miss all of last year with the same shoulder problem. Chris Mortensen is also reporting that he may require another surgery.

If this is the case, that would be more than enough to scare away potential suitors, despite the fact that the Colts have former Patriots developmental quarterback Jacoby Brissett on their books, too.

He already has the easiest job on this planet

Say Belichick is staying on. Say Tom Brady remains as the Patriots quarterback until he’s seventy. Why exactly would he want to leave?

Brady’s one of a few quarterbacks that has complete control at the line of scrimmage prior to the snap – and McDaniels simply calls plays to put them in starting positions.

Yes, his designs are excellent, but there isn’t a throw that Brady can’t make, nor is there a defensive scheme he can’t recognise and adjust to.

The Patriots have offered him a boatload of money to do a job he’s already really good at, and bar the withdrawal, there’s no other reasons for a franchise not to take him on a few years down the line when he ultimately has similar success going forward.