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Following the 1-3, many fans would like to see the Las Vegas Raiders move on from head coach Josh McDaniels. While there hasn’t been any indication that he’ll be fired, anything is possible if the team keeps losing.
If McDaniels is let go, the Raiders may want to make a splash hire, according to Bleacher Report. In a video about the potential candidates to replace McDaniels, Maurice Moton floated the idea of Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh
“We all know that Mark Davis likes big names, he went after Jon Gruden,” Moton said in the October 5 video. “But this isn’t a similar situation because remember, Jon Gruden was in the Monday Night Football booth. Jim Harbaugh is actively coaching Michigan to the national stage.”
When the Raiders were looking for a new head coach last year, Harbaugh was frequently named as an option. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic went so far as to report in January 2022 that the coach would take the job in Las Vegas if he was offered it.
The Raiders decided to go with McDaniels instead and the team has a record of 7-14 so far. Harbaugh has flirted with other NFL jobs but has remained at Michigan.
Would Jim Harbaugh Want to Coach the Las Vegas Raiders?
When Jim Harbaugh was rumored to have interest in the Raiders job last year, the team was coming off a playoff run in 2021. If things got bad enough to where Josh McDaniels would get fired, the team would likely be coming off back-to-back losing seasons. The situation could be less appealing to Harbaugh.
That said, the Raiders could be in for a top-five draft pick if they keep losing, which means he’d be able to hand-pick his next quarterback. Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy is eligible to enter the draft after the college football season.
There’s also the fact that Harbaugh got his coaching career started with the Raiders back in 2002 as the quarterbacks coach. He’s familiar with the franchise and has a relationship with Mark Davis. Las Vegas is a logical landing spot for Harbaugh if he wants to return to the NFL but it remains to be seen if the Raiders have interest.
Josh McDaniels Could Keep His Job
Since Mark Davis took over ownership of the Raiders in 2011, he has never fired a coach before they finished a second season. Dennis Allen was fired four games into his third season, Jack Del Rio got three full seasons and Jon Gruden was in his fourth season before he resigned.
History is saying that Josh McDaniels will likely at least get a chance to have a third season as head coach. Davis wants to bring stability to a franchise that has been unstable for two decades. That said, McDaniels did take over a playoff team, which is something that Allen, Del Rio and Gruden did not. The expectations for the Raiders have been higher in recent years.
It doesn’t help Davis that there is mounting pressure from fans to make a move. The easiest way for McDaniels to quiet the calls for him to get fired is to win games. If the Raiders manage to somehow be worse than the 6-11 team from last year, McDaniels’ job could be in jeopardy.
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