Josh McDaniels: What Went Wrong

After 1 1/2 seasons, Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler have been fired. The Patriot Way has failed.

“Las Vegas Patriots” was a nickname that was given to the Raiders over the last couple of seasons. As was the term “Patriots West.” This was to explain the growing number of ex-Patriots coaches and players that had become entrenched in the organization thanks to Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler.

The Raiders completely entrenched themselves in the “Patriot Way” the same way that other teams had before them. Those teams all failed dramatically, and the Raiders were no different. The difference lies in the details. The Raiders weren’t a rebuilding team. They were a playoff team that decided to change into the “Las Vegas Patriots.”

Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were brought in to lead a team that was coming off a 10-win season in 2021. They had made a miracle run to the playoffs that saw the team rally from a 6-7 record under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and made it as a Wild Card team. Leaders of the team like Derek Carr and Maxx Crosby helped keep the team together as well.

The team outlasted a season that saw head coach Jon Gruden resign in the middle of the season after compromising emails were leaked. The team also had starting receiver Henry Ruggs drive drunk at 157 miles per hour and crash his car into a woman and her dog during the bye week and starting cornerback Damon Arnette was released after threatening people with a gun in an Instagram video.

The team hired McDaniels and Ziegler under the idea that the team would reach the next level. Why else would they trade a first-round pick to reunite superstar wide receiver Davante Adams with his college QB Derek Carr? That’s a move you make if you think your team is one step away from making a deep playoff run, not if you’re rebuilding. They also signed Chandler Jones to a massive contract to form a dynamic duo with Maxx Crosby.

Nothing went right in 2021. Carr and McDaniels might have respected each other professionally, but they mixed together like oil and water. McDaniels’ constant criticism and his rigid system that allowed for absolutely no adjustments or deviation from the assigned play prevented Carr from having any sort of success. The two reportedly clashed after a win in Seattle in 2021 after Carr changed the play at the line of scrimmage to one that won the game. McDaniels was incensed because it wasn’t the play he called.

The team set a record by finding a way to lose more times when leading by 14+ and 17+ points after halftime than any other team in NFL history. They lost to Jeff Saturday; an ex-NFL player turned high school football coach who was hired by the Colts to lose games. They lost to the Rams who signed quarterback Baker Mayfield and started him after 3 days of practice. They lost a game to the Chiefs after Hunter Renfrow ran into Davante Adams and tackled him to the ground on what would’ve been a game-winning touchdown.

The team suffered a losing season and owner Mark Davis decided to side with the new administration over the quarterback who had just helped lead the team to the playoffs and had spent his entire 9-year career with the Raiders in both Oakland and Las Vegas. The “Las Vegas Patriots” were alive and strong. The Las Vegas Raiders on the other hand were questionable.

The team went from a playoff team that won 10 games to winning 6 games and preaching things like “patience.” “Rome wasn’t built in a day” Mark Davis proclaimed to the fans who watched a playoff team get more talent and then fall apart.

Chandler Jones might be the best example of what went wrong with “Patriots West.” A perennial All-Pro with New England and Arizona, Jones did nothing until he managed to intercept an errant pass for a game-winning touchdown against the Patriots in 2022. Other than that, one fleeting moment, he was a failure with the Raiders.

Jones went berserk in the offseason with lots of concerning social media posts which ended with the Raiders releasing him. McDaniels and the Raiders lost any sort of control of the situation, much in the same way they never seemed to have control over anything since McDaniels took over.

The Raiders added more ex-Patriots like Jimmy Garoppolo and Jakobi Meyers on big-money contracts in the offseason to replace the players they pushed out like Carr and Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller. Now that McDaniels had his guys, this season was supposed to be different.

Even if Jimmy Garoppolo couldn’t pass a physical in the offseason, and the Raiders drafted an injured d-lineman in Tyree Wilson in the top 10, this was supposed to be different. Even if the terrible offensive and defensive lines were completely neglected in free agency. McDaniels had his guys. “Patriots West” was in full effect.

It somehow got worse. The 2022 team would choke games away. The defense was 32nd in the league. In 2023, the team has gone 3-5 and the offense that is making $104 million is currently between 29th and 32nd in every single stat this season. This is in spite of having more ex-Patriots on the roster, to go along with future Hall of Famer Davante Adams and the 2022 leading rusher Josh Jacobs in their primes.

The Raiders offense hasn’t been ranked this low statistically in scoring since 2009. That season they fielded starts from Jamarcus Russell, Charlie Frye, and Bruce Gradkowski.

Jimmy Garoppolo, McDaniels’ chosen quarterback, leads the league in interceptions. In fact, the Raiders haven’t had a single game where they haven’t thrown an interception this season. Former Pro Bowler Hunter Renfrow was absolutely beaten down and neglected in the offense after getting paid $13 million per year, and Ziegler was about to ship him off for absolutely nothing to the Saints.

Even worse, the Raiders would’ve been committed to paying Renfrow’s salary as he played for the Saints. They also might have to pay Jimmy Garoppolo upwards of $15-28 million next season though he is likely to be released after the season.

The Raiders offense hasn’t been ranked this low statistically in scoring since 2009. That season they fielded starts from Jamarcus Russell, Charlie Frye, and Bruce Gradkowski.

They’re the first team since the 2009 Rams to start a season by not scoring 20 points offensively in their first 7 games. For an “offensive genius” like Josh McDaniels, this is absolutely inexcusable. The defense has been surprisingly improved this season thanks to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

I didn’t expect Mark Davis to make this move. I had hopes and even wrote an article on it, but I didn’t think it would come. I had resigned myself to watching a Raiders team dripping with talent play so far under its potential that it was incredibly depressing to see. Adams was slamming his helmet on the sidelines, Jacobs was resigned to his fate averaging 2.8 yards per carry, and the defense was forced to be on the field for 81 plays against the Lions on Monday.

The worst loss of this season was easily to the 1-5 Chicago Bears. The Bears were starting an undrafted rookie quarterback named Tyson Bagent. He was a Division 2 Quarterback and the Bears absolutely stomped the Raiders in Chicago for their first home win in over a full calendar year because Josh McDaniels decided to start the geriatric 37-year-old quarterback Brian Hoyer over rookie Aidan O’Connell after Jimmy Garoppolo sat out with “general back soreness.”

Mark’s father Al only fired 2 coaches in the regular season, Mike Shanahan and Lane Kiffin. Mark has fired Dennis Allen, seen Jon Gruden resign, and now has fired McDaniels in the regular season. According to Ian Rapoport, Davis made the move to fire both Josh McDaniels and Dave Zeigler after meeting with several veteran players who reported to him that the culture was terrible. Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi was also fired by Davis.

Josh McDaniels failed for the same reasons he failed in Denver. He couldn’t get out of his own way, and he let his ego destroy the team. He pushed out the starting quarterback, pissed off the star receiver, and he drove a contender into the depths of last place. He made the same mistakes in 2009 that he made in 2022-2023. He finishes with a 9-16 record as the Raiders head coach, somehow worse than his 11-17 record in Denver.

The Raiders are now being led by former linebacker coach Antonio Pierce, who also played in the NFL for several seasons with Washington and the New York Giants. He won a Super Bowl with the Giants in the 2007-08 season. He brought a new energy to the team in his opening press conference, talking about how he grew up in Compton, California, and seeing the Raiders play in LA at the Coliseum.

Jimmy Garoppolo is hitting the bench. Rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell is taking the reigns as the starter. Pierce said, “he gives us the best chance to win.”

The new GM taking over for Dave Ziegler is Champ Kelly. He was the assistant director of pro personnel in Denver and Chicago. Both Kelly and Pierce have interim tags and have the potential to get permanent jobs after this season depending on how they perform. Same with O’Connell, the rookie QB who is hoping to become the QB of the future.

But it’s hard not to look back and ponder what if.

What if Mark Davis allowed Rich Bissacia to run it back after making the playoffs instead of removing him and GM Mike Mayock for the Patriots to come in and take over? What if they let Carr run it back in year 2 of the system rather than push him out for Jimmy G? Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler failed. It will be interesting to see if they get a similar job anywhere else in the league or go back to New England.