Josh McDaniels hasn't spoken publicly since he backed out of a deal to take the Indianapolis Colts head coaching job hours before his scheduled introductory press conference.
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The Patriots offensive coordinator did, however, speak to ex-Pats linebacker Willie McGinest, now an NFL Network analyst. McGinest spoke about their conversation on "NFL Total Access" and said McDaniels told him there's "no handshake deal" that has McDaniels taking over for Bill Belichick when Belichick retires.
“No. Absolutely not," McGinest said when asked if McDaniels' new contract includes some kind of succession plan. “I listen to a lot of people talk about it like he’s taking over for Belichick in the next year or two. That’s Bill Belichick. Nobody’s just going to push him out of coaching. Ownership and Belichick have enough respect, especially Josh, for each other to know that that’s never going to happen. But there is a situation where at some point Belichick [who's 65] may retire, but it’s not going to be in the contract, and you’re not going to tell him when he’s going to retire. Too much respect and because he’s the greatest coach to ever do it, it’s never going to happen.”
McGinest said McDaniels told him, as has been reported, that the offensive coordinator came to his office at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, two days after the Super Bowl 52 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, with the intention of packing up when "a conversation happened" with Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and McDaniels.
"There's no handshake deal [with Kraft that McDaniels will eventually take over]," McGinest said. "The thing with Josh is that Josh wanted stability. The best place for him, where he wanted to be, where he wanted to stay, was in New England.”
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The other issue about designating a successor to a head coach is that it violates the NFL's "Rooney Rule" that stipulates minority candidates must be considered for head coaching openings.
