“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” said Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis; the search for a new head coach and general manager will commence at the conclusion of the season
Last Updated: 01/11/23 9:45am
Las Vegas Raiders have parted ways with head coach Josh McDaniels
The Las Vegas Raiders have fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.
“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” owner Mark Davis said in a statement released on Tuesday night.
“I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
McDaniels becomes the first non-interim coach in the Super Bowl era to be fired by two franchises before the end of his second season.
The Raiders announced linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will take over as the interim coach. His first game will be on Sunday at home against the Giants for whom he played for from 2005-09.
Las Vegas also announced assistant general manager Champ Kelly will be the interim GM and the team will conduct searches for replacements for McDaniels and Ziegler after the season.
McDaniels was the Raiders’ play caller, so offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi might take over those duties.
Highlights of the Las Vegas Raiders against the Detroit Lions from Week 8 of the NFL season
Davis had hoped to bring New England’s success westward when he hired McDaniels, the long-time Patriots offensive coordinator.
Ziegler worked in New England’s front office, and between the former team-mates at John Carroll University, they transformed the Raiders into ‘Patriots West’ by signing several players with ties to that organisation.
But despite taking over a team that made the playoffs in 2021, before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wildcard round, the success Davis so badly wanted never made its way to Las Vegas.
The Raiders under McDaniels went 6-11 in 2022 and are 3-5 so far this season. His record when previously at Denver was 11-17.
Las Vegas Raiders’ Amik Robertson intercepts a pass in front of Green Bay Packers’ Christian Watson in the end zone to seal a Raiders win
Even so, Davis has stood by McDaniels, and the timing of this dismissal is surprising. McDaniels met with the media early on Tuesday afternoon and was scheduled for another news conference on Wednesday morning to discuss facing the Giants.
But McDaniels had some things working against him. The Raiders have failed to score at least 20 points in eight of their past nine games dating to last season, and offense is his speciality. The one game Las Vegas reached that figure came because of a fourth-quarter safety in a 21-17 victory over the Patriots on October 15.
Perhaps just as damaging was the public displeasure some of his players have shown. Star wide receiver Davante Adams, in particular, has been vocal since the off-season about his concerns regarding the direction of the franchise.
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams was visibly frustrated during the defeat to the Lions in which he could not connect with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on multiple occasions
Running back Josh Jacobs when asked after Monday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions about what might spark the offense, said: “I don’t know, that ain’t my job.”
The last two weeks were particularly humbling as Las Vegas lost 30-12 to Chicago and undrafted rookie former Division II quarterback Tyson Bagent, and then looked completely inept in the 26-14 loss at Detroit on Monday night.
McDaniels finished his tenure with the third-worst record of any Raiders coach with at least 25 games.
