Getty Former Patriots WR Danny Amendola.
Despite a disappointing 2022 season, much of the Las Vegas Raiders coaching staff has remained intact. However, the team has made a couple of additions on the offensive side of things. The team hired former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Scott Turner to the staff and has made another outside addition.
According to the Raiders’ website, the team has hired former New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola as a coaching assistant/returners.
It appears Danny Amendola has been added to the Raiders’ staff as a coaching assistant/returners: t.co/JjNfQED3O4
Amendola is a name that NFL fans are very familiar with. He was a key player for two of the Patriots’ Super Bowl runs and was a favorite target of Tom Brady. His offensive coordinator during that time was current Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels. There’s clearly a lot of familiarity there. Amendola has also played games for the Rams, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans. He announced his retirement from playing last year and is now getting into coaching. Having Amendola working with returners makes a lot of sense. He led the NFL in kick return yards in 2009 and the Raiders haven’t had a lot of success returning kicks in previous years. Amendola will likely have a limited role in his first year of coaching but could have a bright future.
Raiders Bringing in Another Former Patriot
When McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were hired last year, they brought in a lot of former Patriots to the team. That trend has continued this offseason. The Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer as quarterbacks, who are both former Patriots. They also signed wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Phillip Dorsett, who were also Patriots. McDaniels is clearly trying to stick with what he knows.
That’s not a concept that is unusual. Head coaches always typically bring in players and coaches they are familiar with. The problem fans are having with McDaniels is the fact that former Patriots coaches have rarely found success outside of New England. Despite that, McDaniels is doubling down on what he knows. Whether or not it works remains to be seen. McDaniels’ first year was about as bad as it gets but he retained his job. The fact that he has added former Patriots isn’t inherently a bad thing but if he fails, this could be the last time a team tries to recreate the Patriot Way outside of New England.
Mark Davis Said Raiders Aren’t Creating ‘Patriots West’
Due to the “Tuck Rule” game from the 2001 season, the Raiders are hesitant to be so closely linked to the Patriots. However, owner Mark Davis had to have known his team would be called “Patriots West” once he hired McDaniels and Ziegler. He’s not a big fan of that name. He believes the fact that so many former Patriots are joining the team has nothing to do with them trying to recreate the Patriot Way.
“That’s not even close to the case,” Davis said in an interview with The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “The fact that they’re signing certain guys from New England, any new coach or GM is going to go with comfortable people that know their system to help assimilate the rest of the team into what they’re thinking, or process is.”