Following their decision to reboot after a playoff berth, the Raiders are 2-6. While the other first-year AFC West coach has drawn rampant scrutiny and generated one-and-done rumors, Josh McDaniels is not believed to be in the boat in which Nathaniel Hackett resides.
McDaniels is not viewed as a hot-seat occupant, according to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson (Twitter link) and Jonathan Jones. Famously fired during his second season in Denver 12 years ago, McDaniels has become somewhat of a polarizing presence — largely due to his decision to spurn the Colts in 2018 — since initially leaving the Patriots for the Broncos. His first Raiders stretch has not generated much success. McDaniels, 46, is now 13-23 as a head coach.
Jon Gruden‘s forced resignation led to interim HC Rich Bisaccia helming a resurgent 2021 Raiders team to the playoffs. While Mark Davis interviewed Bisaccia for the full-time job, they became the latest team to give the keys to ex-Bill Belichick lieutenants. McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler authorized several extensions this offseason. Derek Carr, Maxx Crosby, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller each reupped with the team, which traded first- and second-round picks for Davante Adams, who received a then-record-setting extension. This Raiders edition entered the season as a top-heavy operation; this situation was viewed as a multiyear retooling project. But the early returns have generated speculation regarding McDaniels’ future.
Despite the Raiders blowing three 17-plus-point leads this season, a source informed Jones the Raiders are a better-managed coaching staff compared to the Gruden period. That said, the team has taken steps back defensively under McDaniels hire Patrick Graham, who was on the HC radar, and has been inconsistent offensively. The Raiders rank 28th in both total defense and points allowed; the franchise has not ranked in the top half in points allowed since 2002. Las Vegas’ defense did rank 14th in total defense and 17th in DVOA last season.
Only 13 coaches have been one-and-dones this century. Hackett walked into a situation with slightly higher expectations, due to the Russell Wilson trade. The 3-5 Broncos’ struggles, with the first-time HC at the center of them, have led to those one-and-done rumors. McDaniels is on a four-year contract, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic (subscription required). Cutting off his stay at one season would be a chunk of guaranteed money for Davis, not one of the league’s richer owners, to eat.
Las Vegas was connected to making buyer’s trades before last week’s deadline, but they have lost two games since that report emerged. The second part of McDaniels’ first season will move to evaluation, with the longtime Patriots OC’s offense on the complicated side. Judging how players progress in that scheme will be paramount to the Raiders’ future, if Davis is keen on giving the coach another chance. Most owners take this route. It should be expected McDaniels will be given the 2023 season to establish himself in Vegas, but the heat will be turned up — especially if his first season stays on this course.
Come on Colts. Drop a first-rounder for him. You know you want him.
Rather than fire McDaniels, threaten to make him use the same barber as Davis if he has a losing season. Worst punishment ever…
LMFAOOOO
Im still not sure why Graham was even a candidate for a head coaching job. His Giant defenses weren’t exactly good in his time there.
I think it’s because they overperformed the perceived talent on the roster. He didn’t really have a whole lot to work with but the defenses were adequate.
If the Raiders players were smart they would find a way to plant some emails “written” by McDaniels.
i love this take
Did anyone outside of Mark Davis think McDaniels was going to work out?
All these teams think they are getting Hoodie 2.0 and it never works. Think they would smarten up but always enamored with thinking they will get same results as .
And the luster of the Hoodie is starting to wear thin too.
The strategy the Patriots had employed of constant player churn and burn/next player up in order to manage the cap only worked because Belichick used to draft well and they had the GOAT Tom Brady (who was also always underpaid).
Without Brady and with poor drafting over the past several drafts, the Patriots have lost their mojo.
The offense is struggling because it needs Waller on the field and healthy. The defense has been a problem for a long time although it looks noticeably worse than last year. We spent a lot of money on offensive weapons this past offseason, I want to see what Ziegler/McDaniels do to bolster the defense and offensive line moving forward. I’m not going to make a judgement based on the first 8 games of their tenure but things definitely need to start showing signs of moving in the right direction.
Spot-on comment!
Waller is a huge part of this offense. Meanwhile, the OL has been atrocious although rookie Parham could become a nice G. But really Carr has looked bad because at first he was throwing with his lineman being pushed into him. And now he seems to be anticipating the pressure too much and dumping the ball off too soon. Basically become gun shy.
As for the D, ugh…zero pressure coming from the DL…Maxx can’t do it alone!
That’s because they are going to trade for Mac Jones
I thought not keeping Rich Bisaccia was a huge mistake. And now we can see that was true
There have actually only been six true “one and done” NFL coaches. The most recent was Fred Bruney who led the Eagles to a 37-35 victory over the Vikings in 1985.
He won his first 5 games with Denver too. Since then he’s 8-23. This guy should not have been given this chance after stiffing the Colts. You can put up with bad behavior like that if he wins but he doesn’t
There’s some reason none of Bill’s assistants pan out. Why is it? All last maybe 3 years upon becoming HC’s. After being fired, most run back to NE.
In 6 years being in charge, Sean McVay’s assistants thrive on their own, but not Bill’s. Same for many other HC’s I was just using a guy with less time as a HC, rather than Andy Reid for example.
The defense has been bad for awhile, so I’m not going to hold that against McDaniels. That said, he should be on the hot seat. If I had my way he’d have never been hired.
The Raiders have offensive talent, evidenced by what they did last season. They added arguably the best WR in the league and they’ve still taken a step back. That’s on McDaniels. I try to give new head coaches some time to figure the entire package out, but they should have an almost immediate grasp on their side of the ball. McDaniels doesn’t. He even had some limited experience in Denver to pull from.
This guy is an offensive coordinator, not a head coach. They should’ve kept Rich. I don’t know what Davis was thinking.
Can we move on from Derek Carr. Its year 9 with zero playoff wins with multiple coaches & systems. We have a stud running back, a top 10 TE (when healthy), one of the best wide receivers in the game with an average QB who hasn’t made the pro bowl in 4 years. I know we have o-line issues but with that o-line Jacobs had 3 consecutive games with over 140 yards rushing.
I know have many issues but for me this has been the constant. A cat has 9 lives and years 9 with Carr hopefully will be his last with the Raiders.
How can you expect consistency with so many different coaches? I agree Carr isn’t the solution, but at the same time, he has had way too many coaches during his career. McDaniels should have never been hired regardless. He is an abysmal coach. As far as JJ is concerned, he is playing really well but that may just be due to his option not being picked up. He’s trying to play well enough to garner a huge new contract. Will he play well once he signs a new contract with Raiders or whatever team he signs with?
Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, Kirk Cousins. Mediocre quarterbacks who bring minimal excitement to the game. Carr is arguably the best of a bad lot. I’d say force Carr to take small enough paycheques to be able to stack the offensive line.
Why the Raiders thought Davante Adams would change the franchise is a mystery to me. They could have had two top tier offensive linemen instead of Adams and then had time to throw the ball.
When your own has a haircut like that you know he has no clue about anything else in life.
You have to be a complete loser to get worse after adding Davante Adams to your offensive line-up.