The San Francisco 49ers are among the teams that are interested in New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the team will meet with McDaniels this weekend. The meeting will reportedly take place back east as the Patriots are preparing for a playoff run.
Can confirm #49ers have set up meeting with Pats OC Josh McDaniels in NE this weekend; will also meet with Chiefs exec Chris Ballard.
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) January 2, 2017
McDaniels is expected to garner a lot of interest from teams with head coach vacancies this offseason. He can interview with teams because the Patriots will have a bye week as they await an opponent from the Wildcard round on the AFC side of the playoffs.
McDaniels moving into a head coaching role could take some time because the Patriots are favorites on the AFC side to reach the Super Bowl, which means that he would be unable to begin assembling his staff until after New England is done with postseason play. That late start may concern some teams, but McDaniels' name has been mentioned as a hot commodity over the past few years and he is expected to accept a head coach job this year.
McDaniels has head coaching experience having served in the role with the Denver Broncos from 2009 until 2010. He has had two stints with the Patriots as their offensive coordinator. The first was from 2006 until 2008. The second was after the Patriots hired McDaniels to act as an offensive assistant during their 2011 season playoff run. He replaced offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien in 2012 and has been with the Patriots since.
Prior to that, McDaniels was the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams in 2011.
Update:
Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that McDaniels' interviews with the 49ers, Rams, and Jaguars will take place on Saturday.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is scheduled to interview Saturday with Jaguars, Rams and 49ers.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) January 3, 2017
