Eagles coaching search: Pros and cons of potentially hiring Josh McDaniels

After being linked to just about every name on the market, it looks like the Eagles are entering the final stretch of their coaching search.

The offseason started with seven openings – five of them have been filled.

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Urban Meyer, the New York Jets signed Robert Saleh and Arthur Smith signed on to coach the Atlanta Falcons. The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions shocked the world with their hires: Brandon Staley and Dan Campbell.

This leaves the Eagles and Houston Texans as the only two teams with a head coaching availability and myriad options and avenues for the teams to pursue.

Two of the biggest names on the market – Brian Daboll and Eric Bieniemy are in play for both teams though Daboll is rumored to return to Buffalo next season. Bieniemy, on the other hand, interviewed virtually for the Texans job on Monday. The Eagles asked permission to speak with the Chiefs offensive coordinator, but it’s unclear if the two parties spoke.

With Daboll and Bieniemy seemingly off the board, too, that leaves four “finalists” for the Eagles head coaching gig. Here are the pros and cons of hiring Josh McDaniels.

Pros: He’s the most qualified and successful coach on this list. McDaniels has been a part of all six Patriots teams that won Super Bowls since 2001 in some way, shape, or form. He was a personnel assistant in 2001, a defensive assistant in 2002-03. He was the quarterbacks’ coach in 2004 before becoming the offensive coordinator from 2005-08. He held the same role from 2012-20, too.

He’s still relatively young – he’ll be 45 at the start of next season and brings a wealth of knowledge from his time under Bill Belichick and his two-year tenure as head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009-10.

Obviously, he is well versed in the “Patriot Way”; he’ll coach the team hard and be, in so many words, the polar opposite of Doug Pederson, which could be a welcomed change considering the reports that surfaced about Carson Wentz last weekend.

McDaniels, who was once the hottest name in the head coach circuit, is an offensive innovator. Between 2012-19 his offenses ranked anywhere from 1-6 in DVOA.

In conclusion: he’s young, a proven winner, an offensive mastermind, and set the tone in the locker room.

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Cons: When you’re part of an organization as successful as the Patriots the question begs to be asked: Who gets the credit? Was Tom Brady a product of Belichick’s system? Did Brady make Belichick? Can Josh McDaniels coach outside of Foxboro? There’s a lot of moving parts here.

McDaniels went 11-17 in his two-season stint in Denver and his stint as offensive coordinator in St. Louis ended in a league-worst 32nd in DVOA. Don’t forget he accepted the Indianapolis Colts job after losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl 52, only to back out days later.

Switching gears, a coach is only as good as the staff he brings with him. Rumors are swirling he’s looking to bring along two head coaching misfits in Adam Gase and Matt Patricia. Gase is infamous for running his talent out of New York and Miami during both his head coaching gigs and Patricia was universally disliked by his Lions team during his tenure. If McDaniels brings those two along for the ride it’s a major red flag.

In conclusion: Can he win outside of New England? Has he matured since his first stint as head coach? Who is he bringing with him to coach the defense and help coach the offense?

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