Los Angeles Rams

Patriots OC Josh McDaniels 'definitely would love to be a head coach again'

Published Dec. 9, 2016 12:59 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

Josh McDaniels has had a great deal of success as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator. He didn’t, however, enjoy the same success as the head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009-10.

He went 11-17 in his brief stint with the Broncos before re-joining the Patriots, where he’s spent the past five seasons after one year with the Rams in between. Though he had a rough go of it the first time around, McDaniels absolutely wants to give head coaching another shot – even if he was reportedly left off of a list of recommended candidates by the NFL’s Career Development Advisory Panel.

“I’m aware of the report, and I’ll try and clear that up. Look, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I definitely would love to be a head coach again,” McDaniels said, via NESN. “There’s only 32 of those in the world. Those are opportunities that don’t come along very often -- and if you would ever to be so fortunate and blessed to have another opportunity to do it, and for myself it would be the second time -- it would be an opportunity that I would look forward to.”

McDaniels isn’t in danger of losing his job in New England given the Patriots’ success with him heading the offense. But there’s a significant difference between being a coordinator and a head coach.

Though he should be among the top candidates this offseason, he won’t jump at just any opportunity.

“It would have to be at the right place, the right time, which is what I’ve always said. I try to make good decisions with what is best for my family and myself, and again, somebody would have to offer that opportunity, which you’re lucky if you get that. That’s my mindset,” he said.

If anyone knows how to evaluate coordinators, it’s Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He gave McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia some seriously high praise on Tuesday, saying both should be on a short list of head coaching candidates.

"I think both Josh and Matt are great coaches, which should absolutely be on any head coaching list," Belichick said during a conference call. "I can't imagine that there are many other coaches that could present a resume equal or comparable to theirs. They've done a great job here for a span period of time. So, great track record, and I personally think that any list of head coaching candidates that didn't include them would be incomplete."