Denver, CO (My Sportsbook) - The Denver Broncos held a press conference Monday to introduce Josh McDaniels as their next head coach.

McDaniels replaces longtime Denver head coach Mike Shanahan, who was fired on December 30 after 14 seasons at the helm.

The Broncos signed McDaniels to a four-year contract and he becomes the 12th head coach in team history. The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator is just 32-years-old.

"I don't really think that's something I stop and think about at all," said McDaniels. "My age has never been a factor, never going to be a factor. It's about performance. It's about what you're capable of getting the players to do. It's about the information you can give them and it's about doing your job to the best of your ability."

McDaniels has eight years of NFL coaching experience, all with the Patriots, whom he joined in March 2001. He was named offensive coordinator in 2006 after holding a variety of positions, and helped New England's offense have a banner year in 2007. In McDaniels' offense that season, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady broke the NFL record for touchdown passes in a season (50) and led the league in passing yards and rating.

The Patriots won Super Bowls with McDaniels on their staff during the 2001, '03 and '04 seasons.

"This is definitely a dream come true, to have an opportunity to lead this team and this organization," said McDaniels. "This is something I couldn't have imagined would come up, but once it did it was certainly an opportunity I was going to jump at."

McDaniels had also been personnel assistant, coaching assistant for the defense, quarterbacks coach and worked with the defensive backs for New England.

Despite a season-ending injury to Brady in the opening week of the season, New England's 2008 offense finished the year with an NFL-best 356 first downs and ranked fifth in the league in yards per game (365.4) under McDaniels.

"Josh McDaniels is one of the finest people and brightest, most talented coaches I have ever worked with," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a statement. "Since joining us eight years ago, Josh performed a variety of roles and excelled in every one of them. Between his work on defense, in scouting, player evaluation and coordinating the offense, Josh is a very well- rounded coach whose outstanding body of work speaks for itself. He is the product of a pure football environment which is evident in his approach to the game."

McDaniels began his coaching career in 1999, working under head coach Nick Saban as a graduate assistant at Michigan State.