Josh McDaniels ready for Super Bowl 60 with Patriots

Josh McDaniels will never say never, so he isn’t about to rule out a third chance to be an NFL head coach.

But after two stints as the head of an organization each ended with him being fired less than two years on the job, including a Raiders tenure that lasted all of 25 games, McDaniels is a reaffirmed believer in simply being where your feet are planted.

Right now, that’s a pretty good place. And a familiar one at that. 

McDaniels, who returned from a one-year coaching sabbatical to take a third turn as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, is back in the Super Bowl for the eleventh time in New England and the fifth as the Patriots’ play caller.

So you’ll have to forgive him if he’s not itching to give head coaching another try. Not at the moment, anyway. And certainly not given the hits his reputation took after getting dumped as quickly as he did with the Broncos and Raiders.

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“I’m going to be one day at a time for the rest of my career, honestly,” McDaniels said Monday at Super Bowl Opening Night. “And, you know, I’ve had opportunities, and those have been great, and learned a lot from them. But I’m where I’m supposed to be, and I’m happy being here and can’t wait for this week.”

McDaniels kept a low profile after getting axed by the Raiders on Halloween Night in 2023. But it wasn’t wasted time, by any means. He went on a fact-finding tour while visiting multiple college programs and NFL teams. Tapping into all his relationships, he was able to get up-close looks at esteemed coaches, from the Chiefs’ Andy Reid to Ohio State’s Ryan Day and plenty of others in between.

McDaniels wasn’t exactly sure what he’d get out of it. Mostly, it was a way to make good use of all the free time he had on his hands.

It didn’t take long before the purpose came into vision.

It struck him as he watched Reid run a practice and the Texans’ DeMeco Ryans oversee a coaches’ meeting. It was how USC’s Lincoln Riley installed his offense. Or the way the Bills’ former coach Sean McDermott taught his defense.

For so many years, Bill Belichick was the singular voice teaching McDaniels. But as McDaniels made his way from one college campus to the next, and one NFL facility to another, something important dawned on him.

“There’s other ways to do things,” McDaniels said.

He always knew that, of course. But seeing and hearing it in person made it come to life in a way he never anticipated.

“It was just a great opportunity, and I’m very thankful for the guys that allowed me to have an opportunity to go into their organization and see them work on the field and the way they do things,” McDaniels said.

The more McDaniels learned, the more he banked for future use whenever he got another coaching chance

“I had no idea where it would be,” McDaniels said, smiling.

Turns out it was right back to New England, where Mike Vrabel was hired to replace Jerod Mayo last January.

Vrabel needed an offensive coordinator he could trust to develop young quarterback Drake Maye, the third pick overall in the 2024 draft. He immediately called on McDaniels.

Armed with a whole new perspective, notably a fresher approach to developing quarterbacks produced by modern-day college football, McDaniels jumped in feet first. He helped turn Maye into a Super Bowl quarterback in just his second NFL season.

“More than anything else, just having a chance to see those guys work and the way they structured everything and how they go about doing their job,” McDaniels said. “And they all do it at a really, really high level. They’ve all won a lot of games. And it was really interesting for me to see that.”

The return to New England reaffirmed something else.

Winning in the NFL is the combination of so many different things, including the right owner, structure, culture and the necessary coaching and personnel — but ultimately it was on him.

“When you don’t win enough, we’re accountable for that, so that’s the bottom line,” McDaniels said. “And when you’re a head coach in the National Football League, you’re responsible for providing a winning formula.”