McDaniels 'thrilled, happy' in New England

FOXBORO -- With five NFL coaching vacancies opened before noon on "Black Monday", Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Monday morning that he's perfectly happy with his current job. McDaniels name came up last week as a potential head coaching with the Browns, who fired Pat Shurmur.

"I'm thrilled to be back here and came back here for all the right reasons – to learn and to get better as a coach, to work in an organization that I really have a great deal of respect and appreciation for," McDaniels said, referring to his return to the Patriots this season after a head coaching stint with the Broncos in 2009-10 and a coordinator's job with the Rams in 2011.

In addition to the Browns, the Eagles fired Andy Reid, the Bills fired Chan Gailey, the Chiefs parted ways with Romeo Crennel and the Bears let go head coach Lovie Smith despite the Bears' 10-6 record in 2012. Still, McDaniels said his focus is all on the Patriots. The Chargers were expected to fire Norv Turner while Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt's future is uncertain in Arizona. 

"I'm happy here," McDaniels said. "My family is happy here. We’re excited about what’s ahead of us here in the playoffs, and to talk about any other opportunities at this point is, to me, irrelevant, because I’m totally focused on this season and what this season holds. I couldn’t be more excited to be here and be a New England Patriot and try to do the best job that I can with the title I have right now."

McDaniels said he has learned from his prior jobs, including his positions with the Patriots before leaving for Denver in 2009.

"I think that every opportunity that you have, and certainly [all] that I’ve gone through since I started a long time ago in 2001 here, has been a learning experience for me. There are certainly going to be mistakes along the way in every role that you hold and that you have and opportunity to work in. I think as long as you can go through that process and try to get better from each mistake that you make or from each positive result that you get, there’s always something to learn from those things and try to make you a better coach, a better leader, a better teacher, a better person, a better communicator, a better staff member."

For more, visit the Patriots team page at weei.com/patriots.