The question was about Dante Scarnecchia, but it didn’t take Bill Belichick long to mention Josh McDaniels, too.
Scarnecchia, the Patriots offensive line coach who turned 70 last month, had been considering retirement. He joked about it before Super Bowl LII, but ultimately decided to return for another season. He’s not the only Patriots coach who's coming back despite looking like he was moving on after the Super Bowl.
"Yeah, [...]
The question was about Dante Scarnecchia, but it didn’t take Bill Belichick long to mention Josh McDaniels, too.
Scarnecchia, the Patriots offensive line coach who turned 70 last month, had been considering retirement. He joked about it before Super Bowl LII, but ultimately decided to return for another season. He’s not the only Patriots coach who's coming back despite looking like he was moving on after the Super Bowl.
“Yeah, great. One of the best coach’s I’ve ever worked with. Does a great job. Absolutely, it’s a big positive to have him in our program,” Belichick said this week about Scarnecchia. Before he finished his thought, he brought up McDaniels.
“And obviously, Josh,” Belichick continued. “Both of them. There was some, whatever degree of uncertainty, but very fortunate to have a good coaching staff. They’re two of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with so it’s great to have them.”
The choice to include McDaniels in his answer about Scarnecchia was telling, as was the fact that he called McDaniels one of the best coaches he’s ever worked with.
As NFL coaches, general managers and owners came together this past week in Orlando, Fla., the goal was to talk about improving the game and changing several rules. For Belichick, it seemed like one of his goals was to try to put McDaniels in the limelight.
The Patriots' offensive coordinator became the talk of the league last month when he backed out of taking the head coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts the day the team announced he was being hired. The choice to return to the Patriots was one that many speculated could hurt McDaniels' prospects of finding a head coaching job in the future.
His choice was even talked about at the owners meetings as teams debated a proposition people dubbed as the “Josh McDaniels rule.” Had it passed, clubs would’ve been allowed to hire a coach even when the candidate's team was still in the playoffs, as opposed to the existing rule that requires the hiring to wait until that candidate's season is over.
The proposition was tabled until May’s owners meetings.
At the meetings this week in Orlando, Belichick seemed to try his best to burnish McDaniels' image. Typically, he talks with the media on a Tuesday when the annual meetings are held or not at all. Belichick held an impromptu media session on Sunday and spoke about McDaniels’ return to Foxboro.
Before Super Bowl LII, Belichick acknowledged that he only had “minimal discussions” with McDaniels about his future. At that time, McDaniels was interviewing with several teams about coaching jobs. Two days after the Pats' Super Bowl loss, Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft met with McDaniels to discuss their plans for him.
“We got back from Minnesota. I had an opportunity to talk with Josh. We were able to work some things out,” Belichick said. “I’m thrilled he’s still with us and is going to continue in his role. I think he’s the top offensive coordinator in the league. He’s done a great job for me for a long time in a lot of different roles so very glad, based on the meeting we had, there were a number of things that happened, but after the meeting that we had we were able to work that out and keep him with us.”
In addition, McDaniels agreed to an interview with the Boston Globe on Monday. He discussed how he didn’t have any clarity on his future, but the words of Belichick and Kraft changed everything. He called Kraft the greatest owner and Belichick the best football coach in the game’s history.
Like Belichick, Kraft also talked about how important and talented the assistant coach is.
“It’s very important,” Kraft said. “I can’t tell you how happy I am he’s coming back. I think he’s the best offensive coordinator and has shown that when he’s been with us. He has a great football intellect. We’re really happy he decided to stay with us.”