Josh McDaniels finally made the leap, with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday introducing the longtime New England Patriots offensive coordinator as their new head coach.
It marks the second head-coaching job of McDaniels’ career — he also led the Denver Broncos for parts of two seasons in 2009 and 2010 — and the Raiders clearly are hopeful he’ll find more success upon leaving Bill Belichick’s shadow this time around.
Of course, it helps that McDaniels will have some familiarity in his new home, as the Raiders also hired former Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler to become their general manager. And it’ll be fascinating to see whether McDaniels — who spurned the Indianapolis Colts at the eleventh hour in 2018 — is capable of leading a franchise more than a decade removed from his disastrous Denver tenure.
So, is this a good move by the Raiders?
ESPN NFL insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been grading each new head-coaching hire across the league, and it appears they feel fairly confident about Vegas bringing in McDaniels.
Here’s how each evaluated the McDaniels hiring in a piece published on ESPN.com:
Fowler’s grade: B
The ceiling is quite high because of his football acumen, pedigree and experience. But I need to see more. He flailed out at one head job and bailed on another. And the Belichick coaching tree has been problematic enough where some teams this cycle were intent on not hiring a former/current Patriots coach. But you made a good point about having many years to reflect on this with humility. The Raiders just walked away from a good interim coach in Rich Bisaccia, so they need to be right.
Graziano’s grade: A-
McDaniels is absolutely qualified. He understands the things that are important for a head coach, from the X’s and O’s on up to the critical alignment of coaching staff and front office on salary-cap and other issues. That he’s coming with Ziegler, with whom he already has a strong working relationship, makes me like it even more. I just wish I knew who the QB was going to be.
It was just a matter of time before McDaniels landed another head-coaching gig, as he’s interviewed for other jobs in recent years and made his aspirations clear. He also inherits a talented roster, even though competition will be stiff in the AFC West, with the Kansas City Chiefs solidified as perennial Super Bowl contenders and the Los Angeles Chargers on the rise.
The Patriots hardly were blindsided by McDaniels’ departure, but he leaves a huge void, especially with quarterback Mac Jones at a crucial stage in his development.
Rumors have linked both Adam Gase and Bill O’Brien — experienced play-callers — to the offensive coordinator position, and Belichick will have an important decision to make with regards to his coaching staff for 2022 and beyond.
