Josh McDaniels Backs Out On Deal With Colts, Will Stay With Patriots

Update:

Here’s the Colts’ statement regarding Josh McDaniels‘ decision to stay with the Patriots.

“After agreeing to contract terms to become the Indianapolis Colts’ new head coach, New England Patriots assistant coach Josh McDaniels this evening informed us that he would not be joining our team. Although we are surprised and disappointed, we will resume our head coaching search immediately and find the right fit to lead our team and organization on and off the field.

The scheduled press conference at Lucas Oil Stadium will not take place tomorrow. More information will be forthcoming.”

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Adam Schefter reports that Patriots’ OC Josh McDaniels has decided not to accept Colts’ HC job and will remain with New England.

According to Schefter, Patriots owner Robert Kraft began talking to McDaniels and wound up “sweetening” his contract, which helped to convince him to remain in New England.

McDaniels was reportedly vacillating on this decision throughout the interview process, ever since meeting with the Colts on Wildcard weekend and is the reason why they had a second interview a few weeks ago. According to Schefter, McDaniels did not have a signed contract with the Colts and his decision wasn’t about money.

Schefter says that after weighing things with his family, it didn’t feel right for him to leave New England.

McDaniels would still like to be a head coach at some point, but he just didn’t feel comfortable about taking the Colts’ job.

Sources close to McDaniels have told Schefter that Bill Belichick’s future with the team isn’t coming to an end and he would have been more inclined to leave if it was.

Over the weekend, Chris Mortensen reported there still are concerns about Andrew Luck’s shoulder and whether he could wind up needing additional surgery.

• Mike Reiss reports that a source close to the situation has told him that Bill Belichick’s status in New England and stability for his family were among top factors for McDaniels sudden change.
• Tom Curran reports Bill Belichick will return as Patriots’ head coach for 2018 even after the news that McDaniels is staying.
• Pro Football Talk reports that the Colts had feeling this could happen and now have three candidates ready to interview in next 24-48 hours.

The Colts announced earlier in the day that they had an agreement in place with McDaniels and a press conference was even scheduled for Wednesday. However, it appears as though McDaniels got cold feet about the opportunity.

Reports from over the weekend mentioned that there was buzz McDaniels could remain in New England, but this still comes as a huge surprise.

One candidate to watch for the Colts’ head-coaching job is Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub.

McDaniels, 41, began his NFL coaching career with the Patriots as a personnel assistant back in 2001. He worked his way up to offensive coordinator in New England before he departed for the Broncos head-coaching job in 2009.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go very well for McDaniels with the Broncos and he was fired during his second year with the team.

After a brief stint with the Rams as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, McDaniels returned to the Patriots and has been running their offense ever since.