Josh McDaniels is in a very enviably position professionally. He’s already got a plum gig as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots working under Bill Belichick. That pedigree alone is extremely marketable but he’s currently being courted by every NFL team with a current head coaching vacancy. He’ll be busy this weekend as the Patriots take on the Tennessee Titans in the NFL Wild Card round but there’s a good chance that he’ll spend next week burning through cellphone minutes and frequent flyer miles as he looks for his next opportunity.
BetOnline.ag has proposition betting markets for every current NFL head coaching vacancy. Josh McDaniels is at or near the top of all four. He’s been reported as a ‘top candidate’ for both the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers but based on the betting marketplace there appears to be serious interest from the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants as well. He’s the second choice on the betting board to be the next coach of the Cowboys at +400 suggesting that he could be Dallas’ ‘fallback choice’ if they’re unable to convince current Oklahoma Sooners’ head coach Lincoln Riley to make the move down I-35. Riley is the top pick to be the next Dallas head coach at +150. Dallas has quite a history with Oklahoma University head coaches. Most famously, former Sooners’ head coach Barry Switzer took over as Cowboys’ head coach in 1994. He replaced Jimmy Johnson, best known for his tenure at the University of Miami-FL but ironically a former head coach at the Sooners’ big in-state rival, Oklahoma State University.
McDaniels is listed as the #3 betting option for both the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers next head coach. In New York, he’s priced at +600 behind former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy (+300) and current Baylor University head coach Matt Rhule at +200. The Giants have made no secret that Rhule is the man that they want for the job but he’s been extremely equivocal about his desire to jump to the NFL. At least he has publicly–he can’t have too many reservations about making the move since he’s lined up interviews with the Giants and Carolina Panthers. Rhule is the #4 choice for the Panthers at +900 behind McDaniels (+400), McCarthy (+300) and the intriguing new favorite to replace Ron Rivera as Carolina’s head coach, current Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
The odds market suggests that the most likely destination for McDaniels is the Cleveland Browns where he’s a +250 top choice to become their next head coach just ahead of McCarthy (+275), Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski (+500) and former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer (+500). Not only would McDaniels be a good fit to get the most out of QB Baker Mayfield and the offense (in theory at least) he’s a native of Canton, Ohio with plenty of ties to the area:
Should McDaniels accept the Browns job, it would be a homecoming the team has not seen since the days of Paul Brown himself: The 43-year-old was born in Barberton and played quarterback at Canton McKinley for his father, legendary Northeast Ohio high school coach Thom McDaniels. He later played wide receiver at John Carroll before getting into coaching.
Makes sense. McDaniels is definitely in a better position than Mike McCarthy who appears to be the ‘designated bridesmaid’ for all four NFL teams with coaching vacancies. McCarthy is the #2 choice on the betting board for the Panthers, Browns and Giants and the #3 choice for the Cowboys. He looks like an ‘acceptable option’ for a team should they not be able to get the coach they *really* want.
