Josh McDaniels did the Indianapolis Colts a huge favor

FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 13: Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels of the New England Patriots reacts after winning the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 13: Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels of the New England Patriots reacts after winning the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Josh McDaniels backed out of his commitment to the Indianapolis Colts at the last second, and in doing so, has done them a huge favor…

Josh McDaniels was once a young, hot shot head coaching candidate in the NFL whose 6-0 start with the Denver Broncos had everyone thinking the Belichick discipleship was a new pipeline for NFL coaching stardom.

Since that 6-0 start in Denver, McDaniels has done nothing but tarnish his reputation with every team in the NFL except for the Patriots, in my opinion.

McDaniels was fired in Denver after the team played terribly, of course, but it was the filming of the San Francisco 49ers’ walk through in London (a game the Broncos still lost, by the way) that was the last straw for Pat Bowlen and the Broncos.

McDaniels’ tenure in Denver ended about as quickly as it started, and he ended up as the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams for a season, and when head coach Steve Spagnuolo was fired, so was McDaniels.

He returned to the Patriots in 2012, and has been there ever since.

Apparently, he’s pretty comfortable there.

After agreeing to be the Colts’ head coach, even hiring other assistants away from NFL teams behind the scenes, McDaniels opted to return to the Patriots.

The reasons for his staying in New England are irrelevant to me. McDaniels has proven himself to be a cheater (both in Denver and New England), a liar, and generally one of the least respectable coaches in the NFL.

It seems like McDaniels is banking on the fact that he will one day take over for Bill Belichick in New England, but the rest of the NFL has probably blacklisted him as he simply cannot be trusted in any way except by the people who have employed him the majority of his career.

McDaniels — by shockingly turning down this Colts job — has probably done the Colts a favor. This guy is a complete power trip whose success has been 100 percent related to the success of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

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Now, I won’t sit here and say that McDaniels has no knowledge of football. Of course he does, and he’s designed a great offense in New England that a lot of players have had success in. But we saw it in Denver and we’re seeing a slight glimpse right now that this guy is not cut out for leadership in the NFL.

He does his role well, and that’s what he’s meant for.

He’s now disrespected and embarrassed two of the most prominent owners in professional sports in Bowlen and Jim Irsay, and like Colts general manager Chris Ballard said at his press conference on Wednesday, sometimes the first choice is not always the best choice.

The Colts are obviously at a very critical juncture right now with their franchise, and with Andrew Luck’s health being a major question mark. Even if that played into McDaniels’ decision, it doesn’t negate the fact that he allowed an organization to announce that the move was official, he got other coaches on board, and he has now embarrassed an NFL franchise publicly.

The Colts’ loss, in this situation, could be their greatest gain.

Josh McDaniels seems like a pretty darn good football coach, but he also seems like a very untrustworthy person, and that’s not going to translate to success, in New England, Denver, Indianapolis, or otherwise.