Bill Belichick patrolling the New England Patriots' sidelines, his famous hoodie up and even more famous scowl in place, has been a staple image of the NFL for nearly two decades.
However, after Josh McDaniels' stunning decision to spurn the Indianapolis Colts and return to New England as the offensive coordinator Tuesday, it's clear that Belichick's time on those sidelines is coming to an end - maybe not today, but soon.
Why else would McDaniels, maybe the NFL's hottest head coaching candidate, burn all of his bridges outside of New England in one dramatic swoop? Make no mistake about it, McDaniels is now toxic to all those outside of Foxboro.
No general manager or team executive will want to stake their careers on a man who so spectacularly bamboozled the Colts after the club had already announced the hiring of McDaniels, organized a press conference for Wednesday, and had several assistant coaches working away in the building.
McDaniels is now a New England man likely for the rest of his career - and if he was willing to walk away from a blank slate, $80 million in cap space, a strong general manager in Chris Ballard, and a presumably healthy Andrew Luck, it would have only been for one thing: a guarantee that he'd be the man to lead the Patriots into the post-Belichick era.
McDaniels has been viewed as Belichick's likely successor ever since he returned from his first ill-fated head coaching stint with the Denver Broncos and helped repair his reputation by taking the offense and Tom Brady to new heights.
But his rise from the ashes was too quick; Belichick appeared far from done at the start of the 2017 season and it was expected McDaniels would leave the following offseason after testing the waters with interviews around the league. Ultimately, he opted to stay.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly convinced McDaniels to stay by improving his contract, but that doesn't pass the sniff test. McDaniels knows he was already on thin ice after imploding in Denver and has now declared to all the NFL that he cannot be trusted.
So, it would only make sense that McDaniels has been stamped as the next Patriots head coach and that the change will come in the next season or two.
The signs are already there. The reported dysfunction and tension in the Patriots' building between Belichick, Kraft, and Tom Brady had led some to declare the end of the dynasty (and that was all before the Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles). The trade of Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers - one of the root causes of the tensions - robbed Belichick of his succession plan after Brady had signaled that he may be closer to retirement than most assumed.
In the end, the Patriots are the most secretive franchise in the league. They won't tip their hand and allow word of Belichick's exit strategy to dominate his potential last few seasons. But it appears Belichick and Brady will be going out around the same time, and McDaniels will lead the franchise into a new era.
Colts versus Patriots in 2020. Buy your tickets now.
