After what looked to be a smooth, easy transition from New England to Indianapolis as soon as the Super Bowl was over, the Indianapolis Colts were going to announce Josh McDaniels as their head coach and look towards a brighter future.
Then, at the last moment, McDaniels — who had already brought multiple coordinators in for his coaching staff — pulled a fast one; stiffing the Colts before his reign even began by returning to New England as offensive coordinator.
McDaniels was known for his immature, power-craving personality in Denver, where during his first stint as head coach, he dismantled and leveled the Broncos’ roster, trading away talented players like wide receiver Brandon Marshall and quarterback Jay Cutler — who McDaniels dealt before he coached him in a single game.
McDaniels was soon fired after less than two years at the helm and returned to New England, only to regain his status as a quality offensive play caller as time healed his reputation.
And then it happened again.
Bob Kravitz of WTHR in Indianapolis told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 that McDaniels’ decision to leave the Colts at the altar shook the franchise and has “thrown the Indianapolis Colts into complete turmoil.” Kravitz didn’t hold back when it came to assigning responsibility for the shocking turn of events.
“Portioning blame? Josh McDaniels gets 90% of it,” Kravitz said, who debunked the notion that the Patriots were ‘in’ on a scheme to get revenge for the “deflate-gate” scandal, which started when the Colts blew the whistle on the Patriots deflating footballs during their playoff game in January of 2015.
“I don’t think this is deflate-gate revenge, I really don’t,” Kravitz said. “I think the Patriots did what good organizations in any walk of life do. They understood that they were not only losing McDaniels, but they were losing [defensive coordinator Matt] Patricia [to the Detroit Lions]… they’re going to lose several coaches… and they were afraid that there would be such a dramatic brain drain from Foxborough that they wouldn’t be able to sustain the excellence that they’ve established over the last fifteen to eighteen years,” Kravitz said.
“They sweetened the pot. You’ve got to think that they told McDaniels ‘look, when Bill decides to hang them up, you’re the guy,’ I can’t imagine that wasn’t a part of the conversation, because otherwise, why in God’s name would Josh McDaniels have left the Colts at the altar?”
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