Josh McDaniels was a 'shell of himself' before Raiders fired him
Josh McDaniels' short tenure with the Denver Broncos didn't end well and based off the latest information from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, his end with the Las Vegas Raiders was worse. Per Rapoport, the Raiders held a team meeting the Thursday before McDaniels was fired and it centered around McDaniels' coaching style and process. Multiple […]
Josh McDaniels' short tenure with the Denver Broncos didn't end well and based off the latest information from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, his end with the Las Vegas Raiders was worse.
Per Rapoport, the Raiders held a team meeting the Thursday before McDaniels was fired and it centered around McDaniels' coaching style and process. Multiple players and coaches "ripped into" McDaniels in what was described as a "blistering attack" geared toward fixing the 2023 season.
It worked, but in a negative way. McDaniels was a "shell of himself", afterward, and it was noticeable by all involved.
… People asked and begged McDaniels to change his ways. In his way, he tried. But those who witnessed how he conducted himself during that Thursday practice felt the end was coming.
Sources described McDaniels as far less involved than usual during that practice — akin to a bystander. He let the plays happen without correction, hoped players would self-correct and avoided stepping in to handle every mistake. It was unlike the way he had handled every previous practice during his tenure.
Players — and coaches — had ripped into him during the meeting. The point of the session was to be upfront and honest to try to fix what was wrong for the then-3-4 Raiders. Among the issues addressed: Overcorrecting, long meetings, the ways in which McDaniels attempted to hold players accountable and blaming players for issues with play-calling.
The meeting appeared to affect him in a negative way, sources say.
One source described McDaniels as a shell of himself. – Ian Rapoport, NFL Network
It was as clear as day that McDaniels was always the problem
He's the epitome of a guy so entrenched in his ways that it clouds his perception and judgment when it comes to simple decisions, such as realizing Derek Carr (even with all his flaws) is a much better quarterback than Jimmy Garoppolo.
McDaniels has only known success under "The Patriot Way". The only problem is he doesn't have the football mind like Bill Belichick, nor the quarterback like Tom Brady, to pull that off. And even now, as we've seen, TPW is Busch League without Brady on the roster.
His end with the Broncos was centered around much of the same issues: ego, stubbornness, and poor decision-making. It was obvious he hadn't learned a thing when he ghosted the Indianapolis Colts back in 2018 and that should have served as a big red flag when the Raiders started the interview process.
And let's not even start with the fact that Rich Bisaccia got screwed out of the job, anyway.
Pretty much, the writing was on the wall once the Raiders hired McDaniels. Sure there's always a chance people can learn from their mistakes. But there are some out there that you just know don't learn and McDaniels is certainly one of those people.
But, maybe, his end with the Raiders will make McDaniels realize that he does need to change a lot about his approach. The chances of him getting another head coaching job in the future are basically zero, but he can rise back to the top of the offensive coordinator ranks if he plays his cards right.
Obviously, that's all on McDaniels, though. As with all things NFL – only time will tell.
You can check out Rapoport's full column, here.
