Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels seemed to irreparably damage his future head coaching prospects with every team in the league except New England when he infamously jilted the Colts last offseason. But he has already been mentioned as a candidate for the Browns‘ head coaching job, and as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, there will be no shortage in interest in McDaniels when the head coaching carousel starts spinning in 2019. La Canfora does not specifically name any teams who are expected to pursue the 42-year-old, but his sources indicate that McDaniels will be under strong consideration despite the fiasco in Indianapolis.
Now let’s take a look at other rumors concerning current, and possibly future, head coaches:
- Speaking of the Browns, former Colts and Cardinals HC Bruce Arians recently said he would only consider becoming a head coach again if he were hired by Cleveland, but he walked those comments back shortly thereafter. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says Arians was serious the first time and that he will contemplate returning to the sidelines if he can become the Browns’ head coach. Arians indicated that he will not consider overtures from any other clubs, but that if he does land the Cleveland gig, he would keep Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator and would consider keeping defensive coordinator Gregg Williams — currently the Browns’ interim HC — as well.
- It remains to be seen whether Arians’ interest in the Browns is mutual, but La Canfora reports that the team is expected to reach out to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who is very much on the NFL’s radar as a legitimate head coaching candidate. We have heard previously that Cleveland GM John Dorsey is a big fan of Campbell.
- Although the Jaguars are in the midst of a hugely disappointing season, Rapoport says that head coach Doug Marrone is not on the hot seat and is in no danger of losing his job at the moment (video link).
- Despite unceremonious ousters from Oakland and Cleveland, La Canfora writes that Hue Jackson could become a head coach again as soon as next year. Jackson is back in Cincinnati as special assistant to Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, and if Lewis were to retire or transition to an upper-management position, JLC suggests that Jackson could take the reins. Team owner Mike Brown, who does things his own way, is a big fan of Jackson, and league sources say they would not be surprised if Brown goes that route.
- The Bears‘ defense is excelling in 2018, which means that Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will once again garner significant interest from teams looking for a new HC this offseason, per La Canfora. Fangio has interviewed previously for the head-coaching jobs in Chicago and San Francisco, and the Bears paid him very well to keep him aboard as Matt Nagy‘s DC when they hired Nagy to be their head coach earlier this year. There is a general bias against defensive-oriented coaches these days, but Fangio is regarded as one of the best defensive minds in the game and has a strong reputation for being able to connect with troubled players and to get the most out of his units.
Hue Jackson and Josh McDaniels both considered for head coaching positions… my goodness.
Still not as crazy as Condolezza Rice
She would have been at the very least on par with Hugh Jackson
Josh McDaniels has been the best OC for years, that’s why even after the Colts incident teams are still interested. Shame on you for putting him in the same sentence as Hue
I look at the McDaniels era in Denver and understand why he is listed with Jackson. An outstanding coordinator does not mean an outstanding head coach.
But why anyone thinks of Jackson as a worthy NFL head coach is truly befuddling. Doesn’t 1-31 demonstrate he can’t cut it? Even with inferior talent a capable head coach should be worth 2-3 more wins.
WHAT Head coach wins more than 5 games in Cleveland over the last 3 yrs? All the same front office personnel/players. Don’t think anyone wins more than 5 games.
Tom Brady is the OC. The teams offense worked fine when McDummy was screwing up big time in Denver. Plus McDummy wants to be the GM something that he has proved he is 100% incapable of. No team should allow him to have any input. Anybody who believes that Tebow is a first round QB has incredibly bad judgement.
Josh McDaniels is like the flaky hot girl that some fool will still wanna marry,
Brady and Belicheck are the reasons the patriots are good. Offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators come and go, but the patriots are always good. McDaniels has nothing to do w it. He was terrible in Denver and what he did to Indy should expel him from every NFL franchise everywhere.
Of course Marrone isn’t on the hot seat, he’s had to deal with Fournette being injured, and arguably the worst starting QB.
The defense has also significantly regressed this year but I agree that most of their problems aren’t his fault
True. Defense likely would be fine if Blake Bortles and the offense could put up some points / yards. The defense spends too much time on the field.
Funny, watching the Eagles-Giants game and the announcers mentioned the Hue Jackson rumor, then said I live in that town if they do that they wouldn’t get 15 fans to show up. Then came back and tried to say he wasn’t banging on Hue but if you keep Marvin 15 years and don’t do anything in the playoffs how do you replace him with somebody that’s won 1 game in the past 2 seasons? LMAO!
I’m hoping the signing of Mack was enough to keep Vic Fangio in Chicago. He’s one of the better DC’s and we need him.
Talking Fangio into staying is the single smartest coaching move Nagy has made.
Whoever the Browns hire better consider keeping Freddie around to run the offense.
First let me say I’m not a fan of Marvin Lewis, but with all the injuries the Bengals have had this year and the fiasco with Austin as the DC, there’s not a coach in the league that could have done any better than what they’ve done. And Hue being the next head coach is just ridiculous. He’s proven he can’t be a coach. Maybe make him the OC again?? He did great things with this same offense as the OC. They need to clean house and start over with all the coaching honestly. Problem is until Mike Brown is gone they’ll never be anything but what we’ve seen. An occasional playoff appearance but that’s it. Sucks being a Bengals fan!!