Josh McDaniels was so atrocious at his job as an NFL head coach that the Las Vegas Raiders fired him less than two years into his six-year tenure.
It goes so far beyond the win-loss record when it comes to McDaniels. This guy is a Grade A a**hole to every known NFL person outside of the New England Patriots organization. The depth of his failures and egocentrism truly knows no bounds. Raiders owner Mark Davis didn’t have much to say in a tellingly brief statement about McDaniels and his GM Dave Ziegler — another New England ex-Pat — getting canned:
McDaniels had historic success piggybacking off of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady with the Patriots. He has six Super Bowl rings. Every single other stop he’s had in the NFL has been an exercise in categorical incompetence.
As a head coach, McDaniels achieved something no other man has, wearing out his welcome in an unprecedented way with not one, but two different franchises.
Since his stunning 6-0 start to his Denver Broncos tenure, McDaniels has posted a record of 14-33. That’s a winning percentage of less than 30%.
During McDaniels’ time with the Raiders alone, he blew three 17-point leads. All of them came last season with Derek Carr as his quarterback. None of those mind-boggling defeats even qualify among his most embarrassing losses in the eyes of many. Let that sink in for a second.
I haven’t been here at Whiskey Riff long, yet I’ve already lit McDaniels up for losing to Tyson Bagent, and for rolling with Jimmy Garoppolo as his QB of the future at the expense of Davante Adams.
At my previous employer, I posted a blog titled, “Davante Adams Sounds Like A Man Who Knows The Raiders Are Pretty Much Doomed For At Least The 2023 Season.” That story came from this past offseason and features thoughts from Davante Adams about Jimmy G. Additionally, Davante was simply not onboard with the Raiders’ long-term vision.
“[Jimmy’s] a really cool dude, talking to him. I really haven’t been around him enough to truly know what type of leader he is…I’ve only heard good things from his teammates, though, so that’s a good thing. […] [The front office] think this is the best bet for us right now to put us in a position to be urgent. We don’t see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now.”
A whole eight regular-season games later, it got real urgent. Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler have been fired. Jimmy G is bound for the bench after an NFL-leading nine interceptions.
Davante, who saw all of this coming from a mile away with such prescient words, must be wondering what the hell his future holds after demanding a trade to the Raiders before the 2022 campaign.
Get this: Raiders players basically sat down with Davis and implored him to get McDaniels the f*ck outta Vegas.
More intel about the decision behind firing McDaniels here from Albert Breer, who pointed to McDaniels’ call to start Brian Hoyer at quarterback as a pivotal moment.
I’m sure Belichick will bring McDaniels back as a “senior offensive advisor” and have Ziegler on as a “special assistant to the general manager” or some BS like that. Good for them. Not a bad idea to hitch your wagon to arguably the best coach to ever do it and not form anything resembling your own unique identity.
It’d be the best if McDaniels went on a media tour to try to enhance his public image. Watch him sweat on live TV attempting to spin his time with the Raiders in any positive light. I would actually pay a bonus subscription fee to whichever channel would air that.
In any event, good riddance, Josh McDaniels. May you never coach another NFL team again, because you’re clearly a toxic person who doesn’t deserve such an opportunity whatsoever.
