The New England Patriots will hire former Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels as an offensive assistant this weekend and he will join the coaching staff immediately and help with the offense in the playoffs.
McDaniels, who was the St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator this past season, was allowed out of his contract with the NFL club without compensation.
He returns to Foxboro after leaving three seasons ago to become head coach in Denver where he was fired after one and half seasons. McDaniels was formerly the Patriots offensive coordinator when they put up NFL record numbers in 2007.
It is expected he will regain the offensive coordinator position for the 2012 season replacing current OC Bill O’Brien who is leaving to take the head coaching job at Penn State University.
McDaniels, 35, started in New England a decade ago as a personnel assistant, in 2002 he was a defensive coaching assistant before becoming the quarterbacks coach in 2004. In 2006 he added offensive coordinator to his responsibilities a position he held through the 2008 season when he left to go to Denver.
He started out well in Denver winning his first 6 games but the team folded in the second half of the season and finished 8-8. He also had personnel controversies with QB Jay Cutler, who he ended up trading to Chicago, and WR Brandon Marshall who got shipped to Miami after the season.
After starting the 2010 season 3-9 McDaniels was fired. In 2011 he joined Steve Spagnuolo’s staff in St. Louis only to be left in limbo when Spagnuolo and the teams general manager were fired following the season.
When O’Brien accepted the PSU position Bill Belichick came calling and now it’s reunion time in Foxboro.
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