Raiders Clean House
Photo Credit: Paul Sancya, AP
The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels on Oct. 31 after a 3-5 start for the team. Also on the chopping block for Raiders owner Mark Davis was general manager Dave Ziegler and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi.
The Raiders promoted linebackers coach Antonio Piece to the interim head coaching job, while assistant manager Champ Kelly replaces Ziegler as GM and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree replace Lombardi as OC.
McDaniels was hired in the offseason leading into the 2022 season. His hiring followed the resignation of former Raiders HC Jon Gruden. At the time, Interim HC Rich Bisaccia had taken the team to the playoffs, but the team opted to hire McDaniels rather than keep Bisaccia as a permanent head coaching hire.
After a 3-5 start and reports of locker room chaos under McDaniels, this firing comes as no surprise to Raiders fans.
Analysis:
Given this list, there is definitely joy at the passing of McDaniels’ tenure. While the news is certainly music to Raiders fans’ ears, the McDaniels firing does not come without consequence. McDaniels still had four years left on his contract, and the Raiders will be forced to pay it. Even after his departure, the Raiders will continue to feel the wrath of McDaniels and his tenure as the head coach. The Raiders are also still paying out Gruden’s deal, as head coaching contracts in the NFL come fully guaranteed.
These issues will soon be forgotten, though, because with the new changes in regimes come exciting new changes to the team as well. Already, not even 12 hours since the news broke that the team was moving on from McDaniels, the Raiders announced that Jimmy Garoppolo would be benched in favor of the rookie Aidan O’Connell out of Purdue. Even if the rest of the season does not go well, Raiders fans must certainly be pleased by the logical decisions already being made by the new staff.
Overall, it might not be prevalent for the rest of the season, but this is a great first step for the Raiders organization to getting back on track. After their inactivity at the trade deadline, the Raiders still hold all of the pieces of their roster. While work in the offseason will certainly have to be done, the new head coach will inherit a team littered with talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball. A strong head coach hiring could do great things for this season, and the prospect of a head coach that is not Josh McDaniels has Raiders players and fans feeling like this:
