How much do the New England Patriots hope to gain from McDaniels’ knowledge of Denver Broncos?
Former St. Louis Rams' offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, will now be serving as the New England Patriots' offensive assistant, giving quarterback, Tom Brady, hopes to take full advantage of this new acquisition.
McDaniels was hired by the Patriots after offensive coordinator, Bill O'Brien, signed in as the head coach for the Penn State college football team.
McDaniels will work under O'Brien for the time being and then take over as the offensive coordinator once he relinquishes the position.
McDaniels has worked as the head coach for the Denver Broncos in 2009 and that is what exactly Tom Brady hopes to capitalise on, as they get ready to face Broncos in an American Football Conference (AFC) divisional playoff showdown this Saturday night.
Broncos’ coach, John Fox, played down on the threat exposed by McDaniels and appeared unmoved.
Fox said that McDaniels’ will not matter much since both, the Broncos' and Patriots’ team had changed. Hence, McDaniels knowing them around will not be much of an aide to them.
"We just played them a month ago so I don't view it much differently," Fox said.
"I don't know Josh very well. I wasn't here so I'm not really that familiar. I just stay in my lane. Other people make those rules. It doesn't really matter what I think."
McDaniels had long wanted to return to his former team from where he had begun his National Football League (NFL) career.
He enjoys a close relationship with Patriots coach, Bill Belichick, and the ground was set for his return once O'Brien decided to move out.
Belichick was pleased to have McDaniels back on the staff saying that he was well experienced and knew the Patriots’ “system”.
McDaniels formerly had a long stay with the Patriots starting from 2001, joining in as a defensive coaching assistant and started training the quarterbacks, including Tom Brady three years later, after which he took over as the offensive coordinator in 2006.
He proved his abilities as the Patriots went to score an NFL record for points scored and touchdowns in 2007.
Maybe this time, McDaniels can once again help the Patriots repeat their marvellous performance when they face the Broncos this Saturday night.
This may have been one of the possible reasons why the Patriots hired him.
However, there could have been a stronger reason.
In 2009, McDaniels had moved on as the head coach for Denver Broncos where he gained a lot of familiarity with the Broncos' players, particularly with Tim Tebow, whom he had moved into the team then, making McDaniels' familiarity and knowledge of the Broncos
sure to give the Patriots an advantage.
Speaking to a radio station, Brady said that McDaniels “obviously” was familiar with the Broncos team and players whom he had coached.
Will the familiarity help the Patriots out is yet to be seen. One thing is certain and that is since both these two teams clashed just a month back, they must be quite familiar with each other already.
However, Brady seems intent on drawing as much help as possible from McDaniels’ knowledge.
It may sound a bit odd and look as if the Patriots will be taking advantage of the Broncos by hiring an assistant who knows their opponent but there are no rules in NFL against such an acquisition.
“There is no league prohibition on the acquisition of players or coaches who have no contractual obligations elsewhere. Our tampering rules prohibit interfering with an employee under contract to a team,” NFL spokesman, Greg Aiello, said.
The stage is set for a confrontation between the Patriots and the Broncos and how New England will be able to capitalise McDaniels will be determined on Saturday night.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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