News item: Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, New England’s coordinators, are not on the league committee’s primary list of head-coaching candidates. In an effort to provide owners and front offices seeking head coaches the kind of information headhunting firms might provide, the league in 2013 established an eight-member committee that annually puts out a list of coaching and GM candidates. The list is designed to bring new names to the table and also highlight coaches the committee feels strongly would be good candidates. This year eyebrows were raised when offensive coordinator McDaniels of the Patriots wasn’t on the list; nor was the defensive coordinator, Patricia, though he wasn’t thought to be as strong a candidate as McDaniels. For some owners—Miami’s Stephen Ross for one—the exclusion of McDaniels was noted (the Dolphins hired one of the coaches on the committee’s list, former Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase). Some other teams aren’t concerned with the list. McDaniels was 11-17 in his one head-coaching trial in Denver, and has returned to New England to head up one of the best offenses in football. McDaniels did make a shorter “secondary” list. Those on the primary list: former head coaches Hue Jackson, Tom Cable and Doug Marrone; Gase; current assistants Mike Shula, Sean McDermott, Vic Fangio and Teryl Austin; and college coaches David Shaw, Kevin Sumlin and Kirk Ferentz. In the three years I’ve nosed around about this list, the McDaniels absence was the most talked-about exclusion. The committee, I’m told, thought McDaniels was already notable enough and didn’t need the boost of a league group to push his cause. But Gase had more previous interviews than McDaniels and was considered the “hot guy” entering this postseason. It’s more likely that the head-coaching track records of previous Bill Belichick aides (which isn’t great) affected the McDaniels and Patricia decisions.
