After leading the Las Vegas Raiders to the playoffs in 2021, interim head coach Rich Bisaccia lost the full-time job to Josh McDaniels. Less than two years later, McDaniels has been fired by the team after compiling a 9-16 record.
Bisaccia, who is now the special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, decided to take the high road when asked about McDaniels getting let go.
“I’m trying to dominate the controllables in my life,” Bisaccia said during his November 2 media availability. “I think it’s kind of a thing we all try to do. We try to teach our kids that. I don’t wish anybody any ill. To be honest with you, I’d walked away from that situation a long time ago. Probably the first time I stood at this podium, I really distanced myself from what happened there.
“I certainly feel for the players that were there when we were there, the guys I have intimate relationships with, that they have to go through this process again. All that being said, I don’t like when anybody gets fired in our profession. It’s become commonplace so we’re all used to it. We don’t really think about it that it changes lives and changes families, similar to the same thing we went through when it happened there.”
The Raiders clearly made the wrong move following the 2021 season and this next coaching search will be very important.
Rich Bisaccia’s lengthy answer when asked about the Raiders, who didn’t remove his interim tag and just fired Josh McDaniels after a season and a half:
Rich Bisaccia Leaves Door Open for Las Vegas Raiders Return
If the Raiders could go back in time, they would almost certainly pick Rich Bisaccia over going through the Josh McDaniels experience once again. Even if he failed, it couldn’t have been much worse than what the team is dealing with now.
For what it’s worth, Bisaccia was asked if he’d be open to talking to the Raiders about the opening once the season’s over and he gave an interesting response.
“I’ll let you know in January,” Bisaccia said.
It doesn’t sound like Bisaccia is closing the door on a potential Raiders return. It remains to be seen if owner Mark Davis has any interest in bringing him back but he could be a name to watch once the coaching search opens up.
Should Las Vegas Raiders Consider Rich Bisaccia?
Owners have typically favored hiring coaches with an offensive or defensive background. Special teams coordinators rarely get a chance to be a head coach. That’s likely a big reason why Mark Davis didn’t keep Rich Bisaccia. If the offense or defense starts struggling, he wouldn’t have the expertise to fix one or the other.
As a leader, Bisaccia is second to none, according to many players. He knows how to push the right buttons to get his team fired up. Perhaps that’s all the Raiders need from a head coach. If the team could find great coordinators to surround Bisaccia with, it’s easy to see him having success as a head coach. However, being coordinator-reliant is very risky for a team as they could get hired for head coaching jobs if they do well.
Bisaccia should certainly at least get an interview for the Raiders opening but this is a very different team than it was in 2021. He might not have as much juice in the building as he did two years ago.
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Rich Bisaccia Has Strong Response to Raiders Firing Josh McDaniels