Peter King on how no coaching candidate wows anyone

from A Fiery (and Firing) Finish to the NFL Regular Season

Peter King

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/01/02/nfl-coach-firings-playoff-wild-card-schedule-peter-king

2. You know what struck me about these coach openings? There are no coaches everyone wants. If Stanford’s David Shaw were a candidate (he says he doesn’t want to leave college football right now), he’d likely get an NFL gig. Same with Nick Saban. I heard things Sunday night from teams like this: “There’s nobody out there who’s a slam-dunk guy.” … “We definitely don’t have a leader in the clubhouse.” … “Who do you really like?” (You know a team’s in trouble when it’s asking a sportswriter’s opinion.) …

And this: “There’s no one out there we love.” … You know why all that is good? Maybe teams will take their time—Jed York indicated to me he’ll be slow and wide-ranging with his two job searches, which he should be—and not rush the way most teams do every January.

Teams will do their homework on Shanahan and New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, as well as Joseph, Lynn, Payton, Dallas offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and other NFL assistants. But the fact is, there’s not a must-have in the market this year.

3. I’m not sure Josh McDaniels will go anywhere. Some coaches will take a head-coaching offer, almost regardless of the salary or the situation. I can’t see McDaniels, 40, doing that. Would you? Would you leave Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to get into what David Shaw calls “the spin cycle?” Make a few million, struggle to find and develop a quarterback in a losing situation, get fired, and then grasp at employment straws.

I’ve always thought McDaniels would take his second (and perhaps last) shot at an NFL job when he found a place with stable ownership/management and a quarterback. And a good chance to win, obviously. Where’s that job right now? It might be close in Los Angeles, if he could fall in love with Jared Goff or if he could finagle a way to deal for Jimmy Garoppolo. But I don’t see that job out there right now. And who’s to say any of these teams would want a coach who failed in his first shot at a head job in Denver?