Josh McDaniels

Joshua Thomas McDaniels (born April 22, 1976) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL).

Recruited out of Canton McKinley High School by Greg Debeljak, McDaniels attended John Carroll University, where he played football mostly as a wide receiver from 1995 to 1998.

McDaniels began his coaching career as a senior graduate assistant at Michigan State University in 1999 under Nick Saban, parlaying his dad's friendship with Saban.

After assisting Michigan State, McDaniels moved to Cleveland and worked as a plastics sales representative.

He began his NFL career in 2001 with the New England Patriots, where he served as the offensive coordinator for 14 non-consecutive seasons.

Although a quarterback in high school, he lost out at that position at John Carroll to Nick Caserio, who joined the Patriots staff in 2001 (the same year as McDaniels).

His other teammates at John Carroll included London Fletcher, formerly a linebacker with the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins as well as Brian Polian, the former head coach at the University of Nevada-Reno, Jerry Schuplinski, the New York Giants quarterbacks coach, Tom Telesco, general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders and Dave Ziegler, former general manager of the Raiders.

McDaniels joined the Patriots in 2001 as a personnel assistant.

From 2002 to 2003, he served as a defensive coaching assistant for the team, working with the defensive backs in 2003.

In 2004, he became the team's quarterbacks coach.

In McDaniels's first four seasons with the team, the Patriots won three Super Bowls: Super Bowl XXXVI, Super Bowl XXXVIII, and Super Bowl XXXIX.

After offensive coordinator Charlie Weis left the team following the 2004 season, the Patriots did not name an offensive coordinator for the 2005 season.

During McDaniels' first stint as offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2008, New England set the season record for points scored and won 16 of their 16 regular season games in 2007.

In the 2007 season, with McDaniels at the helm of the offense, the Patriots set NFL records, scoring 75 touchdowns (67 on offense, 50 passing and 17 rushing) and 589 points, leading to rumors that McDaniels might leave the Patriots for a head coaching job.

According to The New York Times, in 2008, it was McDaniels who called the offensive plays for the 2005 season, although suggestions to that effect were made in 2005.

After the season, McDaniels was officially promoted to offensive coordinator, while retaining his responsibilities coaching the team's quarterbacks.

McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration, however, during the Patriots' January 2008 playoff run.

Shortly after the Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XLII, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gave McDaniels a five-page typed report on what it takes to be an effective head coach and run a winning organization, which McDaniels termed "his bible."

Throughout the 2008 season, the two would meet to discuss the report and allow McDaniels to ask non-coaching questions that he brought to later head coaching interviews.

Starting quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1 of the 2008 season.

McDaniels directed the Matt Cassel-led Patriots' offense as the team finished the season with an 11–5 record.

Outside of his Patriots tenure, McDaniels served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009 to 2010 and the Las Vegas Raiders from 2022 to 2023.

His head coaching career was less successful and both stints ended with him being fired during his second season.

On January 11, 2009, the Denver Broncos named McDaniels their head coach, replacing Mike Shanahan.

The Broncos introduced McDaniels, who agreed to sign a four-year, $8 million contract, as their head coach in a press conference the next day.

McDaniels's tenure with the Broncos was marred early on by a controversy involving an alleged trade offer from the Patriots involving the team's quarterback, Jay Cutler, which would have sent Matt Cassel to Denver.

On March 9, 2009, according to ESPN, a conference call involving McDaniels, team owner Pat Bowlen and Cutler failed to resolve the issues.

Cutler said he did not trust McDaniels and the organization following the trade controversy.

On April 2, 2009, the Broncos traded Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round draft pick to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Kyle Orton, first- and third-round picks in 2009 and a first-round pick in 2010.

The Broncos started their first season under McDaniels with six straight wins, including an overtime win over the Patriots in Week 5, before suffering four straight losses.

In the last game of the season, McDaniels and the Broncos still had a potential playoff berth on the line, but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 44–24, Denver's third straight home loss to a division opponent.

That left the Broncos with an 8–8 season record.

Controversy surrounded McDaniels for his benching of Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall for the game due to disciplinary reasons; Marshall would be traded to the Miami Dolphins after the season.

McDaniels' second season in Denver ended with a 3–9 record.

The Broncos lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on December 5, and on the next day, McDaniels was fired by the Broncos.

On November 27, The Denver Post reported the Broncos were under investigation from the NFL, after it was reported that Steve Scarnecchia, the team's director of video operations hired by McDaniels in 2009, videotaped a San Francisco 49ers' walkthrough practice, during the teams' Week 8 game at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

The same day, the NFL fined the Broncos and McDaniels $50,000 each, and Scarnecchia was fired as a result of the incident.

Scarnecchia told NFL investigators he acted alone and "knew it was wrong" to tape the walkthrough practice, after the rest of the Broncos' staff had left the stadium.

In his second stint from 2012 to 2021, the Patriots won three Super Bowl titles.

McDaniels was also among the Patriots personnel to be present for all six of their titles during the Brady–Belichick era.