A day after Josh McDaniels spurned the Indianapolis Colts to remain with New England, fallout is being felt throughout the NFL. One of the central focuses of the Colts following McDaniels’ shocking decision has been to make sure the coaches they brought on as part of his staff are not left out in the cold.
General manager Chris Ballard confirmed that on Wednesday.
Ballard confirms the assistant coaches the Colts have hired are staying: "We will not abandon them. They're good coaches, good people and good developers of men."
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 7, 2018
In talking about this entire situation, former Colts head coach Tony Dungy didn’t hold back. He called out McDaniels, incidating that there’s “no excuse big enough to justify this” and claiming that McDaniels leaving his assistants hanging is “indefensible.”
Haven’t read the article but I can tell you there is NO excuse big enough to justify this. It’s one thing to go back on your word to an organization. But having assistant coaches leave jobs to go with you then leave them out to dry is indefensible. For COMFORT?? https://t.co/hlsYviDC9l
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) February 7, 2018
Given that the Colts had officially signed on multiple assistants to take part in a McDaniels staff, this will make for an awkward situation when it comes to them hiring a new head coach. That’s one of the biggest takeaways here, and McDaniels himself really should be ashamed. These guys left other jobs to join him in Indianapolis. Some weren’t even notified by McDaniels that he had backed out of the Colts’ deal.
We promise to hear more about this story in the coming days. But for now, McDaniels appears to be public enemy No. 1 around the NFL. And for good reason.