Will Josh McDaniels be Able to Succeed After Leaving Bill Belichick?

Bill Belichick’s former assistants don’t have a great track record of becoming successful NFL head coaches. Can Josh McDaniels buck that trend in Indianapolis?

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have built one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the NFL. As a result, other teams in the league want a piece of that success to build their own version of the Patriots.

Since it’s nearly impossible to lure Belichick or Brady away from New England, teams have tried to hire their assistant coaches in the hopes that they become the next Belichick. Here’s how Belichick’s former assistants have fared as NFL head coaches:

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Josh McDaniels went 11-17 in his first tenure as a head coach in Denver, but it looks like he’ll get a chance to improve that record with the Colts.

One thing that does bode well for McDaniels is that most of Belichick’s former assistants that became head coaches focused on the defensive side of the ball. The most successful head coach from Belichick’s coaching tree has been Bill O’Brien, and he was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2011.

Also, McDaniels will have much more talent at the quarterback position than any of Belichick’s former assistants had as a head coach. When healthy, Andrew Luck is a top-five quarterback and he is perfectly capable of executing McDaniels’ offense.

McDaniels also has a quality general manager who has shown the ability to add talent through both free agency and the draft in his first full year with the Colts.

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With those advantages, McDaniels should be able to have more success than that discouraging list of Belichick’s coaching tree.

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