Josh McDaniels Says He Talked To Bill Belichick Before Taking A Bunch Of Patriots Assistants To Vegas
FOXBORO (CBS) -- Josh McDaniels left New England for Las Vegas this offseason, and he brought a lot of Patriots coaches with him. It has put Bill Belichick and his coaching staff in a rather precocious position, with several vacancies -- and question marks -- on the offensive side of the ball.
It painted an interesting scenario in New England, especially since Belichick said a few years ago that he isn't a big fan of departing coaches poaching the system they're leaving. But McDaniels said Wednesday that he didn't simply take all those assistants with him without chatting with his former boss about it before hand.
"Absolutely. I have great respect for Bill and that process. Spoke to him directly multiple times about any interest that I had in people that were there," McDaniels said from the NFL Combine on Wednesday, via MassLive's Chris Mason. "I'll keep those conversations private, but never want to do the wrong things relative to those things. Obviously I feel very fortunate that I had an opportunity to add a few people that I've worked with before, specifically on the offensive side of the ball.
"But yeah, just try to do the right things relative to communicating with him -- or any other coach for that matter -- if you're interested in somebody that works in their organization," he added.
Along with McDaniels, former Patriots coaches Mick Lombardi (wide receivers), Carmen Bricillo (offensive line), and Bo Hardegree (quarterbacks) are now out in Vegas gearing up for their first season with the Raiders. It has left Belichick searching for replacements in three pretty important roles on offense.
So far, all Belichick has come up with is bringing back Joe Judge while moving Matt Patricia out of the study hall and onto the offensive coaching staff. Judge will reportedly be coaching Mac Jones in his second season as an NFL quarterback, while there have been rumblings that Patricia will take over on the O-line.
That approach has raised some eyebrows around the league. But according to McDaniels, Belichick knew he would have to fill these holes shortly after his offensive coordinator left for the Sin City.
