The New York Giants shocked the NFL world by hiring New England Patriots wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator Joe Judge as their new head coach earlier this week. There's a chance things may have gone differently had the Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans in the wild card round of the playoffs.
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, if the Patriots would have topped the Titans last Saturday, the Giants would have interviewed New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for their head-coaching vacancy last Sunday.
However, the Pats' loss to Tennessee altered the schedule, resulting in McDaniels being pushed back to Wednesday — an interview that never even ended up happening, as New York interviewed Judge on Monday and ultimately hired him.
The Carolina Panthers also hired Matt Rhule as their new head coach, which means that the Cleveland Browns are the only head-coaching opening remaining for McDaniels.
Mortensen notes that McDaniels is a candidate in Cleveland but that the Browns are awaiting the outcome of the divisional round matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers, as they are interested in Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also reported earlier on Saturday that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick refused to allow McDaniels to move up his interviews after New England's playoff loss.
McDaniels is currently in his second stint as Patriots offensive coordinator. His second go-around began in 2012.
He has some head-coaching experience, as well, as he took the Denver Broncos' job in 2009 and lasted through part of 2010 before being fired.
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