Josh McDaniels Could Return As OC If Patriots Retain Bill Belichick

Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports that Patriots owner Robert Kraft and HC Bill Belichick met on Monday to discuss the direction of the team from here following the season by record during Kraft’s time with the franchise.

According to Howe, the two parties plan to meet again this week with Belichick needing to lay out a “firm plan” for how to drastically improve the team’s performance.

Howe mentions that bringing back Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator could be part of Belichick’s pitch to Kraft.

McDaniels was in attendance for the Patriots season finale and has reportedly remained close to Belichick and is liked by ownership.

Howe adds that if Belichick can sell Kraft on rehiring McDaniels to improve the offense, it’s possible Kraft could be convinced to give Belichick another season.

However, if Belichick can’t sell Kraft on his plan and the two sides ultimately part ways, Howe reports that Belichick would likely prefer to coach elsewhere.

McDaniels, 47, 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.

McDaniels agreed to become the head coach of the Colts a few years ago before later backing out of the agreement to remain in New England. He also drew interest last in 2020 from the Browns, Panthers, and Giants, but elected to stay with the Patriots. He finally took a job with the Raiders in 2022. 

Las Vegas opted to fire McDaniels midseason. 

McDaniels led to the Raiders to a record of 9-16 (36.0 percent).

We’ll have more regarding the Patriots as the news is available.