I vaguely recall a nice quote from Belichick when Mangini left (but I don’t think it was this effusive in praise.) And thinks went sour long before the handshakes. There were rumors that Mangini was not focused on the playoffs because of the job search, that he was recruiting Patriot coaches on the plane after the Denver loss. And then there was the whole thing where the Patriots felt Mangini was trying to tamper with Deion Branch.

On top of all that, I don’t think Belichick felt Mangini was ready to be a head coach (Mangini only had one year as D coordinator, and he had some of his playcalling responsibilities taken away as the year went on.) Plus, he went to the Jets, the organization Belichick loathes above everything else.

Anyway, point being, I think this is way different than the Mangini situation. I don’t forsee any bad blood between Belichick and McDaniels.

I wish Josh luck, I thought he did a great job with NE. I only ever read praise for him from his players (FWIW), and the fact that he was given so much responsibility at such a young age under Belichick says a lot. My one and only concern is that McDaniels looks so young (as silly as that sounds). I worry a little bit about how that will play in the locker room, but Broncos fans would know better than I. Good luck Josh!