I know in this age of contrarian and edgy opinions, I am supposed to dump on Josh McDaniels for saying that he stayed in New England for family reasons but I am not.

I believe McDaniels when he says he stayed in New England for his family. He got cold feet last minute because he likes coaching here and he and his family like living here. The bottom line is, he didn’t want to relocate.

McDaniels is obviously pretty confident that he will be the heir apparent to Bill Belichick and I am sure that the two men have had conversations about how much longer Belichick is going to coach. While the Patriots would not assure McDaniels that he is Belichick’s successor, he is more than likely the next in line.

Being a full time football coach at any level is hard on a family. The constant moving around from city to city takes its toll on families. There is no doubt in my mind that McDaniels weighed that thought heavily when deciding whether or not to stay.

McDaniels could have handled the whole situation better but in the end, Bob Kraft offered him more money with the chance to potentially succeed Belichick. McDaniels couldn’t walk away from that. If you think he should have, then you don’t understand the coaching profession.

Staying in New England was the right decision for Josh McDaniels and his family. Try as you might, you cannot fault him for that. The national will vilify him for it but in the end, he did the right thing.