New Josh McDaniels Firing Details Bad Look For Embattled Coach

It sounds like wins and losses weren’t the only reasons for Josh McDaniels’ overnight firing.

The Raiders late Tuesday night announced the firings of McDaniels and Dave Ziegler as head coach and general manager, respectively. Las Vegas promoted linebackers coach Antonio Pierce to interim head coach.

McDaniels and Ziegler lasted just 25 games (9-16 record) with the Raiders after leaving the New England Patriots in January of 2022.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Wednesday offered new details on the situation. They paint an even uglier look for someone who now is the first head coach to be fired by multiple teams before making it through a second season on the job.

“My understanding is (Raiders owner) Mark Davis had some meetings with veterans over the course of the past couple weeks, or weeks or so,” Rapoport said during an NFL Network segment. “Asking them about the culture. Did not like the responses he got about what was happening. And decided, in part using that information, to make some drastic moves.”

It’s hard to envision McDaniels receiving another head coaching opportunity anytime soon.

He now is 20-33 as a head coach and failed spectacularly with two franchises. McDaniels also has one cheating scandal on his résumé, along with his infamous spurning of the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.

Still, there no doubt will be talk of McDaniels potentially rejoining the Patriots in some capacity. Devin McCourty, for one, expects New England to reach out to its former offensive coordinator.

That said, the more they learn about the job McDaniels did in Vegas, the Patriots might want to opt against a reunion.