Less than 24 hours after firing head coach Chip Kelly after one season, the San Francisco 49ers have begun to compile a list of potential replacements.
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ESPN's Adam Schefter and Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee have identified New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as an early candidate.
McDaniels, 40, is widely expected to be among the hottest coaching candidates this offseason. He previously served as the Denver Broncos head coach for part of two seasons in 2009 and 2010. Denver went 11-17 during McDaniels' tenure, and he has spent the last six years rebuilding his reputation as one of the NFL's brightest offensive minds.
McDaniels returned to the Patriots as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in 2012, a post he previously held from 2006-08. New England has scored more points than any other team over that stretch, ranking fourth or better in scoring offense in each of the last five seasons.
Football Outsiders ranked the Patriots sixth or better in total offense every season since McDaniels' return.
While much of that can be attributed to the greatness of Tom Brady, McDaniels was able to impress during the Patriots' four-game stretch without their star quarterback in 2016. The Patriots started 3-1 without Brady despite backup Jimmy Garoppolo going down with an injury.
LeGarrette Blount led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns, and Brady put together an MVP-level performance after returning in Week 5. Only the Atlanta Falcons finished with more regular-season points, and New England clinched the AFC's top seed with a win Sunday over the Miami Dolphins.
"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I definitely would love to be a head coach again," McDaniels told reporters in November. "There are only 32 of those in the world. They are opportunities that don’t come around very often, and if you would ever be so fortunate and blessed to have another opportunity to do it—for myself, it would be a second time—that would be an opportunity I would look forward to."
The 49ers went 2-14 during Kelly's only season, a miserable run that seemed dead on arrival from the outset. Kelly inherited a roster no coach alive could have won with and did little on his own accord to coach his players up. His most admirable bit of coaching was an improvement in player relationships—especially in his support of controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
McDaniels and every other candidate will be walking into a situation that is dysfunctional at best, though likely on the rise after the departure of general manager Trent Baalke. The 49ers' best bet at landing McDaniels may be offering their general manager job to Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, with whom the offensive coordinator would be comfortable working.
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