FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The NFL's news of the week broke Monday in Los Angeles, 3,000 miles from where the New England Patriots' offense would dismantle the Baltimore Ravens' top-ranked defense about six hours later. The news reverberated across the continent and back. Jeff Fisher was out as Rams coach, and it's entirely possible that the guy who ends up replacing him is the guy running that Patriots offense.

He is Josh McDaniels, 40-year-old failed former Broncos head coach and redeemed New England wunderkind, and he's ready for another shot at the big job.

McDaniels declined to discuss the issue Tuesday, saying he was focused on getting the Patriots ready to play his former team Sunday, and that's what you'd expect him to say. Even if they want to, the Rams couldn't interview him until the playoff bye week, assuming the Patriots get a bye, or the week after, if they don't.

But McDaniels is going to be among the hottest head-coaching candidates when that cycle opens up next month, and the Rams job is going to be appealing for a number of reasons: big market, top young quarterback prospect, stars at running back and on the defensive line, and patient ownership willing to spend, among others. McDaniels and Los Angeles are a match that makes sense, and this won't be the last time you read about it.

McDaniels' X's-and-O's credentials are flawless. What he has accomplished as the Patriots' offensive coordinator this season speaks for itself. That the Patriots went 3-1 without Tom Brady the first four weeks of the season, scoring 81 points in those three victories, is a testament to his creativity and problem-solving ability. The creativity continues to be on display with Brady back. Monday night's victory was a masterpiece of tempo-shifting scheme creativity that maximizes matchups and keeps the Patriots multiple steps ahead of their opponents as games go along. The Patriots' defense seems to be taking all season to come together the way the team hoped it would, so there's more pressure than ever on the offense to carry this team into and through the postseason.

Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady have won four Super Bowls together. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

But a great coordinator does not automatically a great head coach make, and McDaniels is going to have to answer questions from interested teams about what went wrong in Denver and what he learned from it. Those who know him well say he knows that and is prepared with answers.

McDaniels was 33 when the Broncos hired him as a head coach and gave him significant control over the roster. Put simply, he wasn't ready. He went 8-8 in 2009, then fell off to 3-9 through 12 games in his second season before they fired him. It was a brief and tumultuous tenure that began with an ugly mishandling of incumbent quarterback Jay Cutler and ended with a videotape-spying scandal. During his time in Denver, McDaniels endured personality clashes with players and assistant coaches that have been well-documented.

Six years have passed, though, and McDaniels is now older than some of the head coaches (Adam Gase, Ben McAdoo) who were hired last year and have done well. He has drawn cursory interest on the coaching market the past couple years but hasn't been inclined to jump back in at the first opportunity.

Josh McDaniels went 11-17 as head coach of the Broncos from 2009 to 2010. Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire

"I definitely would love to be a head coach again," he said last month. "There are only 32 of those in the world. They are opportunities that don't come around very often. It would have to be at the right place and the right time. I try to make good decisions, what's best for my family and myself."

People who have worked with McDaniels cite his high intellect as a reason to think he'll succeed if given another chance. Perhaps more than ever, a head coach these days has to be able to think along with his personnel people, his salary cap people, to understand the intricacies of what it takes to run the franchise so that he can be as successful as possible in the locker room and on the sideline. McDaniels is well-regarded as intelligent enough to thrive on those fronts.

In his second stint with the Patriots, McDaniels also has shown an ability to connect with players of different types and ability levels and to communicate with them in ways that draw the best out of them. His failure in Denver, people who know him say, taught him what he needed to work on, and he's smart enough to know how to (A) put it into practice and (B) deliver real and thoughtful answers when asked about it in his next interview cycle.

Maybe he doesn't get the Rams job or any job this time around. But at 40, McDaniels is ready and well-positioned for another shot at NFL head coaching. If he's going to make good on his considerable talent, Los Angeles could be the perfect spot.