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The Las Vegas Raiders are in the process of moving on from former head coach Josh McDaniels and players seem to be in much better moods. Owner Mark Davis had plans to give the coach more time to build the team the right way but things were only getting worse and the environment was toxic.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, McDaniels’ firing had less to do with football reasons and more to do with personality reasons.
“After asking around, I get the sense that people skills and culture were primary issues — and ones that essentially plagued McDaniels in two coaching stops,” Fowler wrote in a November 8 column. “Players aired their grievances in a team-meeting setting, and owner Mark Davis was well aware of some of the frustrations.
“Players felt overworked in some cases. As one source put it, the tone was set by the regime that if the lights were on in the building, people should be there working. While that sounds like a nice football trope for dedication to the craft, that throwback Patriots-style mentality can be problematic for grown men with families.”
Nobody can accuse McDaniels of not working hard but it appears his biggest fault was how he went about working hard.
Josh McDaniels Was ‘More Empathetic’
Josh McDaniels was previously the head coach of the Denver Broncos and also didn’t make it through his second season. A major reason why he didn’t work out there was for personality reasons.
He had claimed that he learned from the experience and apparently, he wasn’t as rigid, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
“The sense around the building was that McDaniels just kept insisting they trust him and that it would turn around eventually if they stuck to his plan,” Graziano wrote in the column. “As one person close to the situation told me, ‘Players know. And if all you’re ever telling them is, ‘I know better,’ you’re going to lose them pretty quick.’
“I have been told McDaniels’ management style was a little more empathetic in Las Vegas than it was 10 years earlier in Denver, and that the general vibe around the building was less contentious. But the team was clearly not making progress in any helpful direction, and in the end, McDaniels’ insistence that he would be proven right if they just stuck to what they were doing didn’t make sense to the players or, ultimately, ownership.”
The biggest problem for McDaniels was that the Raiders weren’t showing progress in his second season as the head coach. It’s hard for an owner to trust the process when the process isn’t yielding any results.
Antonio Pierce ‘Has a Shot’ at HC Job
Antonio Pierce doesn’t have the coaching experience that Josh McDaniels has, nor does he have the expertise. However, his personality has been vibing with Raiders players so far. That may be enough for him to earn the full-time head coaching job going forward.
“I do believe Pierce has a shot at the full-time gig, depending on how the next two months go,” Fowler wrote. “Maybe not a strong shot, but a shot nonetheless. We saw how the last interim coach, Rich Bisaccia, galvanized the Raiders on the way to the playoffs in 2021, and perhaps Pierce can have a similar effect.”
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