5. Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots offensive coordinator
Interview: Undetermined, but happening 1/6/20
The (almost) Colts head coach in 2018 has drawn the interest of the NY Giants and has had his interview moved up to Monday after the New England Patriots first-round exit against the Titans. This time may very well be different however, as rumors of Tom Brady leaving New England have seemed to signal a changing of the guard and McDaniels could get out before it gets ugly.
The Patriots offensive coordinator has been with the organization a very long time despite only being 43. He was hired as a personnel assistant with the Patriots in 2001 and save a short failed stint with Broncos as their head coach and a year with the Rams as their offensive coordinator, he has been in New England most of his career.
On paper, he’s a great candidate, with a ton of coordinator experience despite being a younger coach at 43, but his failed stint in Denver seemed to prove otherwise as he traded Jay Cutler in his first season and went 8-8 then went 3-9 in 2010 before being fired.
Hiring a failed head coach is not a great thing but McDaniels still has run a wildly successful Patriots offense with Tom Brady at the helm. Whether he has interest in the NY Giants job specifically is another story, even though they consider him a serious candidate and interviewed him the last time he made himself available.
There are rumors he wants Belichick-like control over personnel decisions and Giants general manager Dave Gettleman is unlikely to give him that sort of power or really even a 50-50 split.
So even if the Giants have interest, I think he is unlikely to take the job in New York and look elsewhere, most likely to Cleveland.