FOXBOROUGH — The first question Josh McDaniels faced Friday was about how it feels to be back at it for 2018, with players having returned to the building and coaches once again teaching football.

“Awesome,’’ the Patriots’ offensive coordinator said in the south end zone of Gillette Stadium. “It’s a little less stress at this time of year.’’

McDaniels was in a chill mood. The sun was shining, it was 68 degrees, and there aren’t any football games to be played for another four months.

He also handled several tough topics coolly and confidently, holding his first news conference since flip-flopping on the Colts’ head coaching job in February, though he did address the topic with a Globe reporter in late March.

The questions and answers about his career were the most fascinating. After he turned his back on the Colts, and in a way that turned off so many people across the NFL, you’d think that McDaniels would be set on being the Patriots’ offensive coordinator for a long time.

Apparently not.

“I’ll say this: I’ve stated again and again that I definitely want to be a head coach again,’’ McDaniels offered, unprompted. “At the same time, I love being here. This is where my kids were born and raised. We’ve made a pretty special life here, and that’s not an easy thing to leave.’’

So if he wants to be a head coach again, but Foxborough is a special place, did he get an assurance from Robert Kraft that he is the coach-in-waiting for when Bill Belichick retires? That was the big assumption when McDaniels flip-flopped on the Colts, because why else would he hurt his reputation like that?

Again, apparently not.

“Nope, nope,’’ he said. “I mean, my role is the same.

“Look, I think if you’re here, you have an opportunity to work with and for the best people in our game — maybe some of the best people that have ever done those things in our game.

“Whatever happens in the future is going to happen. I just know that I’m grateful to have the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator here, coach quarterbacks, work with the offense, and work for the people that I work for.’’

Speaking of “some of the best people that have ever done those things in our game,’’ Tom Brady still isn’t participating in offseason workouts, staying away from Foxborough for the first time since 2010. McDaniels said he doesn’t know whether Brady will even be in attendance for the mandatory three-day minicamp next month.

But he doesn’t seem too worried about Brady not being part of the program right now.

“I have no doubt that he’s doing what he thinks is right for him and his family, and I completely respect that,’’ McDaniels said. “I know he’ll be ready to go. I know he’ll be in good shape and good condition. I’m sure he’s working really hard, and I’m not really worried about that.’’

McDaniels said he has checked in occasionally with Brady and Rob Gronkowski, who is also skipping offseason workouts, though they usually don’t talk football.

“I’ve seen Rob, talked with both of them,’’ McDaniels said. “But generally, the thing about this time of year, unless we’re in the meeting room, we’re not talking about football. It’s more about how things are going outside of this place. It’s a good time of the year to do that.’’

McDaniels said he was never very worried about Brady pulling a surprise retirement this offseason.

“Some of that stuff you hear, some of it you’re not aware of,’’ he said. “But I’m pretty excited to have the opportunity to coach that guy. I have for a long time, and I will be again this year.’’

We’ll stop here to note that McDaniels said he’ll coach Brady “this year,’’ but didn’t commit beyond that. It seems everyone in Foxborough is operating year-to-year these days.

McDaniels also isn’t worried about how Brady’s absence is putting the offense behind schedule. The Patriots are in Phase 2 of the offseason, which means quarterbacks can throw to receivers and work on their timing. Right now, Brian Hoyer is the only quarterback at practice.

“You’ve got to work with what you’ve got. They’re not the only two that aren’t out there,’’ McDaniels said of Brady and Gronk. “I think we saw a few years ago, [Brady] came back after four weeks gone and there wasn’t a huge gap there in terms of what he was used to doing.’’

With his coaching future not bothering him, nor the absences of Brady and Gronkowski, McDaniels seems to be in a good place right now.

“This time of the year is always fun,’’ he said. “We work for a few months each offseason where it’s just us, the staff, doing both football research, self-scout analysis, helping evaluate the guys in the draft.

“But now you have the guys back in the building, some new guys we haven’t had the chance to work with for very long. So it’s always an opportunity for us to get to know them, and it’s a little less stress at this time of year.

“I took four pages of notes yesterday in our squad meeting. All kinds of things. We start over each year. All the little things we talked about, all the things that we value, communication, being on time, trust, learning the things you’ve got to learn to go back and start building all over again — that never gets old. That’s the most fun part of our job.

“Yesterday was a great opportunity to just listen [to] the orientation process with our rookies, and hear Bill talk about those things. There’s a lot to learn every year, and I hope I always go into each year feeling that way.’’

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin