By Jordan Long
The Philadelphia Eagles could be announcing the hiring of their new Head Coach soon. The Eagles’ job had been open since they let Doug Pederson go on January 11th after 5 years. The Eagles went 42-37-1 under Pederson with 3 playoff berths and 1 Super Bowl victory. One of the favorites to take over the franchise is Josh McDaniels.
McDaniel’s is one of the top offensive minds in the game. McDaniels was with New England from 2001 to 2008. He joined them again in 2012 and has been the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots for the last 9 years. Under him, McDaniels’ offense has been one of the best in the league. It helped he worked with a Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady. The Patriots won 6 Super Bowls with him as a coach.
This season McDaniels’ quarterback was Cam Newton, who started 15 of the 16 games for the Patriots, a different quarterback than Brady. Brady is a pocket passer while Newton is more of a running quarterback. The Patriots went 7-9, first time since 2002 failing to win 10 or more games, missing the playoffs. The last time they didn’t make the postseason was in 2008.
The Patriots’ offense struggled to pass the football. They averaged 180.6 passing yards per game, 3rd worst in the NFL. When it came to scoring they had a tough time putting points on the board, averaging 20.4 points per game, 27th in the NFL.
The only area where McDaniels’ offense was pretty good was running the football. They were able to gain yards on the ground, averaging 146.6 rush yards per game, 4th best in the NFL.
These stats this year don’t show why McDaniels should be a prime candidate for the Eagles Head Coaching job. Rather, it is his past history as an offensive coordinator that means more. His offense usually can stretch the defense with the passing game. The rushing game would keep the defenses off balance.
There are problems with McDaniels’ Head Coaching history. He had been a Head Coach in the NFL from 2009 to 12 games into the 2010 season with the Denver Broncos. It started out promising. Denver won their first 6 games in 2009 but went 2-8 the rest of the way. The next season, the Broncos were 3-9 and decided to let McDaniels go. He proved he wasn’t ready for a Head Coaching job at the time. He was 33 years old when he was hired.
McDaniels had a chance to become the Colts’ Head Coach. They agreed to a contract but on February 6th, 2018 he had a change of heart and withdrew his name to go back to the Patriots. It worked out for the Colts who hired Frank Reich who has led the franchise to two playoff appearances.
The Eagles are not a bad place for McDaniels to be. There isn’t as much pressure to win as there is in New England. They would give him at least 3 or 4 years to build the team into a winner. Philadelphia has two young quarterbacks on their roster in Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts. Both of them could develop their game more with McDaniels and may be a potent offense who will win games year in and year out. McDaniels may not be the answer for them to win another Super Bowl.
The downside is McDaniels has a pretty good job in New England. He runs the offense for Head Coach Bill Belichick. It could be if he stays in New England, McDaniels may be the next Head Coach once Belichick retires. The Eagles will do what is best for the franchise moving forward.
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