Blame Josh McDaniels, But Don't Forget the Other Two Snakes in New England

Since the beginning of January, it has been presumed that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would become head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The only thing standing in the way of it becoming a reality was an end to the New England's playoff run. That came Sunday evening, when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

With the NFL postseason well and truly over, the Detroit Lions wasted no time in announcing that McDaniels' defensive counterpart, Matt Patricia, would be taking over as their head coach on Monday. That same evening, according to Sports Illustrated's Peter King, McDaniels had a 90-minute conversation with his friend, Colts GM Chris Ballard. On Tuesday afternoon, the Colts announced that it was "visor season" and that they would introduce McDaniels as head coach in a press conference on Wednesday. And then just like that, McDaniels was gone.

What happened? A number of reports are pointing to McDaniels' hesitance to uproot his family and take them to Indianapolis. Many say he had been "vacillating" for weeks on the decision. And yet, he still spoke with the Colts front office Monday, and on Tuesday they announced he was coach. So again, what happened? Let us check in with Peter King:

King gives several reasons McDaniels was convinced, including the aforementioned hesitancy with Indy, as well as structural concerns within the Colts organization and, of course, the uncertainty surrounding Colts quarterback Andrew Luck's health. All of those are fine reasons to turn down a job—but McDaniels didn't turn down the job for them. He accepted it, and then changed his mind because his previous employers, at the eleventh hour, decided to sweeten the pot and give him more money.

Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft had a full month knowing that McDaniels was likely heading to the Colts. At the very least, they knew he was going somewhere. And yet where were these lengthy discussions back then? Where was the promise of more money to stay? Where was any sense of urgency that a coach the organization clearly valued was about to leave?

It was only when McDaniels' departure became a reality—he had an agreement in place with the Colts, and was only in the New England offices to clean out his desk when the talks began—that Belichick and Kraft scrambled to get their guy back in the fold, at great risk to his personal and professional reputation, and essentially interfered with McDaniels' relationship with another team. They could have locked him up with whatever deal they just offered him at any time during this process, but instead they waited until he had already made up his mind. Just like the Super Bowl, the Patriots had plenty of time to win this one, and they didn't. They threw a last-second Hail Mary when time expired and no one checked the clock.

Now McDaniels is being crucified for his about-face. He surely deserves some of it. The Colts are left without a coach a month into the search, and that is primarily McDaniels' fault. Three assistant coaches had already agreed to come to Indianapolis thinking that McDaniels would be their new boss, and now they're stuck (hey, at least he called them).

But don't forget about the unscrupulous, victory-consumed creatures slithering around New England. Belichick, a coaching mentor on and now, apparently, off the field, does not care about the impact this will have on McDaniels' career. He's got his offensive coordinator back. Kraft has perhaps even less admirable motivations for getting in between McDaniels and the Colts:

You hear a lot about how New England is a model NFL franchise, phrases like "The Patriot Way" and Belichick's vaunted "culture of winning" are tossed around as signifiers of a virtuous organization that has some integrity. But their actions—Spygate, Deflategate, Belichick's own history of last-second cold feet—tell a completely different story. Convincing Josh McDaniels to weasel out of his agreement with the Colts at the last minute is just the latest example.