INDIANAPOLIS — The press conference was set for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the Colts were arranging the grandest stage to introduce their new head coach. This wasn't going to be conducted in the media room at their training complex. No, something this big had to be produced at Lucas Oil Stadium, because only its vast expanse could contain the occasion.
So what’s the appropriate venue for this news?
Maybe a daycare center.
Because that was the knock on Josh McDaniels at Denver, wasn't it?
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"The biggest issue with Josh McDaniels’ first go-round as an NFL head coach came down to power," Chad Jensen of the Mile High Huddle told StampedeBlue this month. "Denver owner Pat Bowlen gave McDaniels executive/personnel authority, which was too much for the inexperienced and immature coach."
Yep, that was it.
So the sweeter deal he extracted from the Patriots to remain their offensive coordinator had better include some "head coach-in-waiting" language, as some have theorized, because any other NFL team that would offer him that position at this point would have to be extremely naive.
Honestly, what would be more childish than dragging an organization through more than a month of interviews and negotiation and an agreement, all the way to within 20 hours of your public celebration, and then deciding, um, never mind?
This is not like some of these other "oops" moments from coaches who’ve taken jobs and then decided they'd made a mistake, for whatever reason.
Billy Donovan took the Orlando Magic job in June 2007 after he'd won consecutive NCAA championships at Florida and the Magic decided to dump a truckload of money on him: five years, $27.5 million. They’d fired Brian Hill on May 24. They announced Donovan as his replacement on June 3. He made an impulsive decision, motivated by money and proximity and the fact he'd be starting over with the Gators after losing the five starters who'd delivered him two titles. So he made a considered decision to renege.
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The Colts fired Chuck Pagano on Dec. 31. That was 37 days ago. McDaniels was being reported as a finalist for the position as early as Jan. 14. That was 23 days ago. Obviously McDaniels had other matters to consider during that time. As the Patriots' OC, it was his job to conjure ideas on how to move the ball past the Titans and the Jaguars and ultimately, though not quite successfully enough, the Eagles.
So the question of whether to leave New England to take over the Colts could not consume his waking hours, but let’s not be coy about this. It’s obvious that wasn't necessary. He had made up his mind. The Colts stopped searching weeks ago. They were required, under league rules, to wait until the Patriots were finished losing to the Eagles before making it official.
This is an embarrassment to the Colts, who have earned a few others in the last couple years — Andrew Luck, anyone? — but not this one. They chose to offer McDaniels another opportunity to be a head coach in the league despite his colossal failure in Denver. They threw him a lifeline; he threw back an anchor.
He was the guy who wasted a first-round pick on Tim Tebow, a player almost no one else thought could play quarterback at the NFL level. He went 8-8 in his first season, plunging to a 2-8 finish after starting with six consecutive victories. They were alive in the playoff hunt on the final day of that season, but lost at home by 20 points to the Chiefs. KC finished that year — no kidding — 4-12.
It got no better in the second season, when he was allowed to coach a dozen games but won just three of them. Management had seen enough. After firing him, the Broncos made the playoffs the next five years in a row, including two Super Bowls and one championship.
So that’s the guy the Colts had decided to hire. He was 32 when he got the Denver job, a boy wonder. That was the excuse whispered on his behalf by those who considered him for their head coaching jobs now, with his 42nd birthday just a couple months away.
Maybe this is a blown opportunity for Indianapolis, as when the Jets thought they had Bill Belichick locked up only for him to slip out the back door. Or maybe, and this seems more likely at the moment, it’s a chance for Indy to wind up with someone who has the character to not undermine it as drastically as McDaniels has.
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Hardly anyone knew who Mike Tomlin was when the Steelers hired him. When the Eagles hired Doug Pederson away from the Chiefs, "We all laughed, a least a little," wrote Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes.
There’s another Pederson out there, another Tomlin.
That guy won't walk away from a firm commitment. He'll behave like a grown-up.