Report: Packers Could Replace Mike McCarthy With Josh McDaniels of Pats

Less than a year after Josh McDaniel spurned the Colts and returned to the Patriots after initially agreeing to be the next head coach in Indianapolis, another team may be willing to give him a chance at the top job on the sidelines.

That team, the Packers, will likely move on from current head coach Mike McCarthy if Green Bay fails to make the playoffs this season. And now, with the team sporting a mediocre 4-5-1 record after Thursday night’s brutal loss to the Seattle Seahawks, there’s a good chance the Packers will miss the postseason.

If McCarthy’s departure does open a door, there’s a decent chance McDaniels comes walking through it, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich” on Friday, Breer explained why Green Bay would have interest in McDaniels.

“Two years ago, Josh McDaniels was in the [San Francisco 49ers’] coaching search until the very end,” Breer said. “And one of the things the Niners were looking at was pairing different people together. When Josh McDaniels was in the running for that Niners job … the guy who at the time had emerged as the front-runner for the general manager job … and who had blown the Niners away was a Packers personnel man named Brian Gutekunst, who now is the [Packers’] general manager. So, they’ve done their homework on each other.”

For McDaniels, who has served as the quarterback whisperer for future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady, the chance to work with another elite QB like Aaron Rodgers might make the interest mutual.

“You’ve got Aaron Rodgers at 35 years old, and you’ve got this nice, long runway to find the next [quarterback], too,” Breer said. “[Rodgers] is not close to being done. If I’m [McDaniels], I’ve got Aaron Rodgers to compete with for the next four or five years, and I’ve got a long runway to find the next guy, too, which I think is a real positive.”