Does Chase Daniel have an inside track on the New Orleans Saints head coach search? The longtime NFL backup has found success as a media analyst and commenter after hanging up his cleats, and Drew Brees’ old handshake partner shared his predictions for which candidates will take which jobs in this year’s cycle.
And he doesn’t have Aaron Glenn, Kellen Moore, Mike McCarthy or Kliff Kingsbury going to New Orleans. Instead of those A-listers, it’s New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka who Daniel sees wearing in black and gold.
Kafka is visiting the Saints this week for a second, in-person interview. What’s interesting is that his time with the Giants isn’t really the selling-point for him. It’s his past experience coaching quarterbacks under Andy Reid on the Kansas City Chiefs that’s most appealing. Interestingly, Daniel previously noted that Kafka wasn’t running Reid’s playbook under Giants head coach Brian Daboll, and that it was clear he “definitely isn’t a part of the conversations” surrounding the team’s draft strategy at last year’s combine.
So it sounds like Kafka made a bad bet in going from Kansas City to New York, and wound up stuck in a dead-end job under Daboll. Half the teams with job openings are competing for time with him during this hiring cycle and he’ll be in a prominent role at the Senior Bowl, so he’s clearly highly regarded around the league. Maybe a move to New Orleans with more opportunities to make decisions and run his own offense could be good for him.
