McDaniels and Patricia left off NFL's 'primary' list of coaching candidates

[SVN]

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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.

McDaniels left off league’s ‘coaching candidates’ list

curran's take

King speculated that McDaniels was bypassed for the primary list because of the “head-coaching track records of previous Bill Belichick aides.”

Could be. I’d also theorize that a league-sponsored committee isn’t going to promote the candidacy of a Patriots assistant when it knows that assistant has come to understand that the people on Park Avenue are not your friends. Why would the NFL want to lobby for an assistant who, if hired, will enter his job with a healthy skepticism about the aims and competency of the league’s executives?

 

[raduray]

Any team that relies on the NFL's list of coaching candidates is doomed.

 

[Darrone]

Good! I've never been wild about McDaniels, but anything that makes Patricia more likely to stay is a positive.

 

[Wheelman]

Adam Gase seems to get it reading Curran's article. Will be interesting to see how/if Tannehill improves.

 

[Tuck]

Any team that relies on the NFL's list of coaching candidates is doomed.

Yeah. What front office exec worth his paycheck is going to make a hiring decision based on who made the list and who didn't.

This is absurd.

 

[ViperGTS]

Like an NFL franchise outside of the Colts need a "headhunter" service. The NFL is so controlling it's not funny.

 

[Tuck]

Like everything the league does there is an agenda here too. They can't possibly expect teams to rely on their headhunting service as if there are so many candidates to sort through they need to "help" the process along by identifying unknown talent. Please spare me.

Curran's explanation seems entirely plausible. The list is could be more about controlling the coaching ranks by excluding undesirables than it is about identifying qualified candidates.

What a bunch of slime balls these owners are.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Meh. Lions just hired Quinn who is at a higher level of authority.

I think Curren is over thinking this one.