Could Josh McDaniels leave Patriots for head coaching job in offseason?

Patriots OC Josh McDaniels might not be keen on rebuilding in Foxborough.

The New England Patriots’ humbling defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night has all but killed off their playoff hopes in 2020, giving fans and certain members of the organization reason to start looking ahead to the offseason.

While the Patriots can be expected to refurbish their roster — like upgrading at wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, defensive line and potentially quarterback if the right option becomes available — is it possible that some members of the coaching staff decide to seek greener pastures?

Well, during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Friday morning, Patriots reporter Mike Reiss spoke on the possibility of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels leaving for a head coaching job this offseason and his answer might not sit well with fans in New England.

Patriots fans are all too familiar with how selective McDaniels has been in the past in terms of accepting interviews for a head coaching gig, which is pretty understandable given how tumultuous his two-year stint in Denver was back in 2010 and 2011.

It seems like the 44-year-old is annually listed as a potential candidate for teams in the market for a new head coach, and rightfully so, given his pedigree. However, teams with vacancies are probably also skeptical to bring him in after what happened with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.

As we know, McDaniels was announced as Indy’s new head coach in February of that year but famously withdrew from the position on the same day he announced that he decided to stay with the Patriots.

With all of this in mind, it would probably have to be the perfect opportunity to convince McDaniels to leave New England again. On paper, the Chargers sound like a realistic destination given their undeniable talent on both sides of the ball (especially on offense), but we simply don’t know what the longtime coordinator is looking for as it pertains to boxes that are already checked prior to his arrival.

Because of that, there’s no way to know for sure what his intentions are. What we can declare, however, is that he will be more incentivized to explore a new opportunity if the Patriots don’t give him more weapons to work with on offense.

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