Pats’ McDaniels could be man for Cleveland
Josh McDaniels is back home. Maybe not just to visit.
The Patriots offensive coordinator, whose first shot as an NFL coach didn't go well, interviewed Friday with the Cleveland Browns, the team he grew up watching as a kid in Canton, Ohio.
McDaniels is the eighth candidate to interview with owner Jimmy Haslam and the Browns' search committee, which could be nearing a deci- sion on the franchise hiring yet another coach after two decades in a futile search for stability.
The Browns have no other interviews scheduled at this point, giving McDaniels a chance to make a strong, lasting impression.
This is McDaniels' third goaround with the Browns, who fired Freddie Kitchens after just one season. The 43-year-old was a candidate for Cleveland's job in 2009 when it went to Eric Mangini and he took Denver's job. Then again in 2014, when McDaniels pulled himself from consideration.
McDaniels would leave perhaps one of the league's most stable teams for one of the shakiest. But he might be ready to leave the comforts of New England, where he's won Super Bowl titles on Bill Belichik's staff while working alongside superstar quarterback Brady.
IOC PREZ DEFENDS PROTEST STANCE
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The political neutrality of the Olympics would be undercut if an athlete took a knee in protest on the medal podium at this year's Tokyo Games, IOC President Thomas Bach said Friday.
One day after the International Olympic Committee published guidelines specifying which type of protests are prohibited in venues and medal ceremonies, Bach added his support. “They (the Olympics) are not and must never be a platform to advance political or any other divisive ends,” Bach said to an audience that included the heads of international sports federations. “Our political neutrality is undermined whenever organizations or individuals attempt to use the Olympic Games as a stage for their own agendas, as legitimate as they may be.“
Bach robustly defended two long-standing Olympic Charter rules in a 25-minute speech. Rule 50 prohibits any “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda“in Olympic areas. Rule 40 restricts an athlete's ability to promote his or her own sponsors at a time when many of them receive a huge amount of attention.
Taking a knee, making hand gestures with political meaning, and refusing to respect fellow medalists on the podium are highlighted as “divisive disruption” in the new guidelines.