Josh McDaniels Revealed He Hasn’t Changed at All

Josh McDaniels always has a way of making terrible impressions at the worst possible time. The Indianapolis Colts fiasco is merely the latest.

People easily forget how atrocious his start in Denver was back in 2009. He’d barely gotten in the door as their new head coach when he found a way to alienate quarterback Jay Cutler. He did such a good job of it that the Pro Bowler refused to play for him, demanding a trade out of town. As a result, the Broncos got saddled with Kyle Orton and some draft picks from Chicago. That set the tone for McDaniels’ tenure. His clear immaturity and inability to manage a locker room showed up rapidly and he was fired before his second season even ended.

Seven years later many in the football community were ready to believe McDaniels had matured. He learned hard lessons outside the Patriots umbrella and applied them to become one of the best offensive coordinators in football. He was ready for his second shot at the big job. This despite clear red flags indicating he still had a hard time getting along with players, even his quarterback Tom Brady at times. It looked like the Colts were ready to look past that in order to give him a chance.

Then he revealed his true nature yet again.

McDaniels has always been a hired gun and never a leader

There is no denying McDaniels is a sharp offensive mind. He wouldn’t be so widely mentioned in coaching circles if that weren’t the case. However, not everybody is cut out to be a head coach. That’s because it is far different from being a coordinator. One job only has to worry about the Xs and Os, about crafting a good game plan and making adjustments to help the players. McDaniels is excellent at this. Head coaches? They have to do all that and also be a leader of men at the same time.

It’s that critical gap that escapes so many prospective coaches. They just can’t balance the two. McDaniels has shown he falls into that category. He’s a master of the Xs and Os. He’s not a leader. A leader doesn’t back out of his promised obligations and a leader doesn’t leave men he made a commitment to high and dry for his own selfish reasons. Maybe the hiring process for NFL coaches isn’t perfect, but if McDaniels was never sold on leaving New England to begin with, he never should’ve made himself available.

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In essence, he revealed that despite all the assurances he hasn’t learned a thing from his time in Denver. He’s still a selfish, arrogant man more interested in maximizing his own personal standing than being the guiding light to a franchise. Indianapolis should be grateful he didn’t have the guts to follow through.