New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels not taking the head coaching job the Indianapolis Colts offered him was one of the biggest surprises in the NFL this year. McDaniels reportedly accepted a monster five-year deal that enticed him enough to keep him in New England, via Austin Knoblauch of NFL.com.

The contract, per Rapoport, made McDaniels the highest-paid coordinator in the league, with one of the years of the deal eclipsing more than $4 million.

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McDaniels is no stranger to being around greatness. The Patriots offensive coordinator served as a senior graduate assistant for Michigan State's football team under Nick Saban in college in 1999. Two years later, he found himself aboard the Patriots staff as a personnel assistant. McDaniels continued to work his way up in the organization by being a defensive backs coach and quarterbacks coach before being to promoted to offensive coordinator after the 2005 season. He called the plays for their dynamic offense until he secured a head coaching job for the Denver Broncos in 2009. McDaniels made his return to to the Patriots in 2011 and continued to build on his success for them.

The Patriots making a long-term investment in McDaniels may indicate that they have big plans for him in the future. The Patriots have appeared in four of the last seven Super Bowls with McDaniels calling the plays. They've won three of these appearances. If Bill Belichick retires any time soon, McDaniels will surely be atop the list of likely candidates. While head coaching jobs are hard to come by, you don't just stumble across an opportunity to run a storied franchise like the Patriots every day.