Could Josh McDaniels End Up In Jacksonville?
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't wait until the end of the season to throw up the white flag on Urban Meyer, firing the head coach before his disastrous first season could come to a merciful end. Meyers lasted just 13 games with the Jags, and his team only won two of them.
His tenure was filled with controversy from the get-go, from his failed attempt to bring in Tim Tebow as a tight end to staying behind after a loss and getting caught with a woman other than his wife in a Cincinnati bar to calling his assistants "losers" to allegedly kicking the team's former kicker. And that is just the Cliff Notes version of the hurricane of problems that Meyer brought to Jacksonville.
So the Jags will be among the teams looking for a new head coach this offseason. And considering they have a young and promising quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, they'll likely be looking for a bright offensive mind to mold the top pick in the 2021 draft.
Could that bright offensive mind be Josh McDaniels? The Patriots offensive coordinator has said that he wants to be a head coach again, and his stock is once again on the rise with rookie Mac Jones having the best season of the rookie quarterbacks in the league.
The Jags are also in need of a massive culture change after the Meyer debacle. While former Bill Belichick assistants have really struggled with bringing a similar approach to wherever they go, McDaniels would have 18 years in New England -- plus the lessons learned from his failed stint in Denver -- to draw from.
There are other candidates for Jacksonville to consider, some of whom are a little more appealing than McDaniels. Bryon Leftwich is in line to take over a team after serving as Tom Brady's offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay for the last two years, and the former quarterback has a history with the Jags, drafted seventh overall by the franchise in 2003. Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will also be hot names for head coaching vacancies this offseason.
After his failed head coaching gig in Denver, and after burning the Colts back in 2018, the pressure will be on McDaniels to succeed if he lands a head coaching gig. Jacksonville, with a promising young quarterback and a low bar set by Meyer, may be his best landing spot -- if he does indeed want to leave his cushy gig with the Patriots.