McDaniels: 'Clarity' from Kraft, Belichick led him to spurn Colts

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels revealed his reasoning for electing against accepting the then-vacant head coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts.

McDaniels said he met with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick at Gillette Stadium two days after the team's Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I wasn't 100 percent sure what the future was. I just hadn't had any clarity on that," McDaniels said, via Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. "So, where did I fit in? Where there any plans? I just didn't have much clarity on what my role was here moving forward."

McDaniels said that meeting swayed his decision. His contract was adjusted, but he was not given any guarantees, per McBride.

"Once I heard from Robert and Bill on that Tuesday, it just gave me reason to pause and consider this whole situation," McDaniels said. "The opportunity to stay here and work for who I think is the greatest owner in sports and the best head football coach in the history of our game, to work with the best quarterback that has ever played.

" ... Look, I'm privileged to have the opportunity to do that and when they kind of crystallized that. 'Hey, here's what we see going forward and here's how we would like you to fit into it' -- it gave me a reason to stop and say, 'All right, what's the best decision for me?' And certainly it was difficult. But I made the decision on my own, nobody pushed me into it."

McDaniels admitted that his conversation with Colts general manager Chris Ballard was not an easy one. McDaniels also said he called each potential assistant to apologize for leaving their futures up in the air.

"And I apologize to anyone who was affected in any way," McDaniels said. "Indianapolis did a tremendous job. They have a tremendous organization and I was lucky to be considered and I just think once I found out (what my future in New England was), I made the right decision for me and my family at this time."

The Colts regrouped and named Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich as their head coach last month.