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Last year, interim head coach Rich Bisaccia led the Las Vegas Raiders to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth. Owner Mark Davis thought last season was an anomaly and decided to replace Bisaccia with Josh McDaniels. Nine games into the McDaniels tenure and Davis has to be regretting his decision.
There have been multiple reports of Davis having long meetings with the coach following losses. That didn’t change with the loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Tashan Reed of The Athletic revealed that the owner went straight to the locker room following the loss. There were a lot of fans calling for McDaniels‘ job but he remains the head coach for now. Davis can’t be happy with how the season has gone but he took a big risk by hiring the coach and needs to stand by it. Firing McDaniels won’t fix the team’s issues right now. Though the optics of the two having meetings after losses isn’t great, McDaniels thinks that news coverage surrounding them is overblown.
“(Davis has) been great,” McDaniels said Monday. “He has the same urgency that we all do, if not more. He’s been here a long time. He’s seen this when it’s been good, and he wants to win as bad or worse than anybody else does. He feels the frustration. At the same time, he’s been incredibly supportive. That’s important, obviously, as you go forward. We’re all here because of him, and we want to do well for him, and we want to do right by him. Whatever he feels, I want to know what it is. I think that’s my role and my job. I hope I always understand where he’s at. He doesn’t hide anything from us, and I appreciate the way he leads and his support. You feel his urgency to try to do whatever he can do to help us get to where we want to be as fast as we can be there. I don’t know what else I could ask from him.”
McDaniels Isn’t Concerned About Job Status
If McDaniels didn’t get fired after the Colts loss, he likely won’t be getting fired this season. It was never realistic that he would get canned. The Raiders just hired him and paying off the rest of his contract before he finishes one season isn’t ideal. Regardless, McDaniels is trying to just focus on what he can control.
“We haven’t had some big clandestine meeting about that,” McDaniels said. “If somebody says that my time is done, then my time is done. I’m not going to coach like that. I’m going to coach these guys the same way that I’ve coached them and try to lead the right way with a good, positive attitude and outlook. Part of the process is just trying to improve and figure out how do we get better — yes in the short term, but also in the long term.
“When we came here, we felt like this was something where there was going to be an opportunity to try to establish that as we go forward. But ultimately, those are decisions that are not in my control. I’m going to control what I can control and do the best I can at my job. Part of that is continuing to think about the future and next year and what goes on beyond the next few months here.”
What Changes Need to Be Made?
The Raiders aren’t firing McDaniels which means that defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will likely be back next season. He’s been an abject disaster this season with the team arguably having the worst defense in the NFL. It’s clear the team needs to completely rebuild their defensive roster.
Maxx Crosby, Nate Hobbs and Duron Harmon are the only three players who should definitely be back. Amik Robertson has likely also done enough to earn a spot next season. Outside of those four, the Raiders should do what they can to completely overhaul their defensive personnel. The team has all of their top draft picks next year and should be using most of those picks on defensive players outside of adding an offensive lineman or two.
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