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The keys to the kingdom may have been nudged over a little further back than we initially thought.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, whatever was said in the Pats latest meeting among the big shots convinced Josh McDaniels to say no to the Indianapolis Colts and remain with the New England Patriots.
“Bill Belichick said to him, ‘I want you to be by my side. I am going to open my world to you,’” said Mike Reiss of ESPN.com last week. “‘Show you how I view roster building, how I look at financials and the salary cap.’ To McDaniels, who is 41 years old, the chance to be with Belichick, arguably the greatest coach of all-time, 65 years old, to have that opportunity was viewed as to be extremely valuable to him.”
The McDaniels saga is well known by now.
As the longtime offensive coordinator for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, McDaniels recently left the Indianapolis Colts at the altar to remain in Massachusetts. Immediate reports explained it away as McDaniels receiving assurances that he'd replace Bill Belichick once he retired or moved on. Later reports including McDaniels himself have contradicted that line of thinking.
Either way, it doesn't mean Belichick doesn't treat McDaniels any less special and interestingly enough, this tutorship really began 10 years ago, as documented by a Jim Trotter Sports Illustrated piece written in October of 2009.
“When the coaches returned from a two-week break [after Super Bowl XLII], Belichick called McDaniels into his office and handed him a five-page, typed report on what it takes to be an effective coach and have a winning organization,” Trotter wrote.
“‘I had been talking to Bill for a few years about being a head coach, and after I didn’t do any interviews during the bye week in the ’07 playoffs he said, “I will help you in any way I can to get you ready for all the other things that go into the job,”‘” McDaniels told Trotter. “Just being around him every day was going to help me from a football standpoint because I could see what he did and how he did it. But he was saying he would help me with some of the things that you won’t really get a chance to witness or understand or become knowledgeable about until you’re in that position.”
While it seems to be the case, that McDaniels stayed put due to his ongoing or increased role as Belichick's protege, it can't be argued that Belichick never intended to simply push his offensive coordinator to the side.
