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The Raiders need to fire Josh McDaniels. Usually, you don’t want to give up on head coaches too soon. Al Davis made that a habit in the mid-90s all the way until the end of his life in 2011. The Browns, under the Haslem ownership, have also been guilty of firing head coaches rather quickly. But in the case of Josh McDaniels, it’s completely justified that the Raiders need to part ways with this man.
Let’s look at the facts here. McDaniels was hired along with general manager Dave Ziegler from New England. The Raiders decided to hop on the trend of hiring assistants of Bill Belichick, something that for the most part hasn’t worked out at all for a lot of teams. The Raiders aren’t completely wrong to want to be like the team that, from 2001-2020, was the standard of who you want to be like as an organization. Lots of others, like Detroit, followed this path years ago.
Raiders HC Josh McDaniels – Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
The problem is that it is 2023, and the Buffalo Bills have won the AFC East division title over New England 3 seasons in a row and even demolished the Patriots in a home playoff game. They are no longer the standard for the NFL. Instead, it can be argued that either Kansas City, Philadephia, or San Francisco have become the standard for teams to emulate.
It has also long been proven that while the assistants of Bill Belichick may do great work for him, they are completely unable to replicate his work. Josh McDaniels, for the second time in his coaching career, has proven that to be true. The instability in the Raiders organization has not only continued during his tenure but, in the case of Chandler Jones, has grown even stronger.
McDaniels infamously failed as the Broncos head coach in 2009-2010. It was a tenure that saw him get caught spying on other teams, take a victory lap after beating New England, lose on a game-winning touchdown drive by Jamarcus Russell, draft Tim Tebow, and lose 59-14 at home to the Raiders.
Why is this relevant in 2023? Josh McDaniels is still making the same mistakes as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023. People are expected to grow and change as they get older and hopefully wiser. McDaniels, instead, has somehow defied any sort of evolution as a coach and remains the same as he was when he got canned in 2010.
McDaniels was brought in after arguably the most chaotic season in Raiders history, resulting in a playoff berth in 2021. A season that saw Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette arrested, Jon Gruden resigned due to email leaks, and the team dragging itself back from a 6-7 record to somehow make the playoffs. They added Devante Adams and Chandler Jones and proceeded to go 6-11.
Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Josh McDaniels(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
This season was supposed to be different. McDaniels didn’t click with Derek Carr professionally and the team’s front office and ownership sided with McDaniels. He got his guy in Jimmy Garoppolo, the former discarded heir apparent to Tom Brady in New England. It was supposed to be a match made in heaven. Instead, the team, through three games, has appeared as hollow as a Vegas shotgun wedding being presided over by an Elvis impersonator.
The Raiders went backward in every statistical metric you could use to measure a team, both offensively and defensively. They’re paying $13 million a year to a wide receiver in Hunter Renfrow, who has had three targets on the entire season despite repeatedly being left wide open by defenses. The Raiders rushing attack gained a season-high 62 yards on Sunday against the 32nd-ranked run defense in the league the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In that game, McDaniels lost complete control. Late in the game and down by 8 points, the Raiders kicked a field goal on 4th and four inside the Steelers’ 10-yard line, becoming the first team since 1994 when the 2-point conversion was invented to do so in that situation. When asked why he decided to kick in that situation, McDaniels stated he believed the Raiders were down multiple possessions. The Raiders could wake up tomorrow, and fire Josh McDaniels just for those comments alone, and nobody would bat an eye.
McDaniels also has repeatedly defended his actions with such statements as blaming the defense for the Raiders not getting the ball back immediately after they gave up a 3rd and 2 on the Steelers’ next drive. Blaming the players for bad decision-making was something he was heavily guilty of in 2009-2010, showcasing that he has not grown enough to be an NFL-level head coach. This is inexcusable and certainly another reason to fire Josh McDaniels.
McDaniels’ in-game decision-making was never a strong suit. But as the Raiders head coach, it has been on full display too many times. Last season featured such decisions such as making Josh Jacobs throw a pass after injuring his throwing hand as a running back, going for 2 instead of simply tying up the game in Kansas City, deciding to try and burn the clock the entire second half with a 17-16 lead against the Rams, and other terrible decisions that led to the Raiders setting records for blowing 14+ point second-half leads.
Raiders HC Josh McDaniels – Ethan Miller/Getty Images
This season, the Raiders top-10 scoring offense has plummeted to 32nd in the league. The team has somehow managed to regress even though they’ve got their guys. Chandler Jones is on the non-football injury list after going crazy on social media. This year’s draft picks are all rated near or at the bottom of every rookie statistical category, especially first-round pick Tyree Wilson. McDaniels has lost all control of this team. If Mark Davis isn’t going to fire Josh McDaniels, he needs to explain why at this point. The “Patriot Way” has backfired.
They barely beat a Broncos team in Denver that just allowed 70 points in Miami against the Dolphins, got stomped in Buffalo by the Bills, and allowed a very winnable game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to slip out of their grasps. The Raiders sit at 1-2 in second place in the AFC West, once again looking up at the defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs in first place. If they’re going to change things, they’ve got to start somewhere, and that somewhere should be the decision to fire Josh McDaniels.
You don’t want to go down the Al Davis path of burning through head coaches left and right. The Raiders, since 1995, have had more head coaches than anybody. But you simply can’t sit there and let mediocrity run rampant and unchecked. The Raiders have generational talent on their roster with guys like Devante Adams and Maxx Crosby. They’re wasting that high-end talent if they don’t have the right captain leading the ship.
As a lot of us are guilty of, take an example from the past. Hall of Famer and Raiders legend Tim Brown before the season said he had seen this kind of situation before during his career. The Raiders managed to reverse that tide after terrible tenures from Mike White and Joe Bugel by hiring former head coach Jon Gruden for the first time.
We can only hope that, like the Raiders of the 1990s, the Raiders in 2023 and beyond can find the right man to coach this team. With a record of 7-13(18-30 overall) and the evidence presented above, it is evident to all football fans around the world that Josh McDaniels is not the man for the job. If the Las Vegas Raiders want to preserve their future, they need to fire Josh McDaniels.
