Las Vegas Raiders about to take a massive gamble on Josh McDaniels?
Are the Las Vegas Raiders about to take a massive gamble on New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels? It looks like they might.
For more than a decade, Josh McDaniels has put the idea of being an NFL head coach on ice. It seems like the Las Vegas Raiders are attempting to get him out of New England, something that gets talked about often but obviously hasn’t been done since the Denver Broncos hired him in 2009.
In the 2009 offseason, late Hall of Fame owner Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos made the bold decision to fire longtime head coach Mike Shanahan and hire McDaniels away from the New England Patriots at the time.
Although it didn’t work out, Bowlen undoubtedly envisioned the type of success the Los Angeles Rams are currently having with Sean McVay when he brought in a 32-year-old McDaniels who was considered arguably the top up-and-coming offensive mind in all of football.
Instead, McDaniels was a power trip. He traded all of the Broncos’ young core players on offense. Someone on his staff was caught filming the 49ers in 2010 not long after the Patriots had gotten in trouble for the same shenanigans.
He was fired and is not well-remembered in Denver, but he has remained an outstanding offensive mind for the last decade with the New England Patriots. Now, he might be heading back to the AFC West, this time to coach the Las Vegas Raiders…
Las Vegas Raiders may soon be the Patriots West
If the Raiders and Josh McDaniels get a deal done to make him the next Las Vegas HC, a potential OC replacement in New England could be former Patriots’ assistant Bill O’Brien.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 27, 2022
If things have gotten to the point that there is already a specific name and candidate that could replace McDaniels in New England, you know things are progressing quite a bit.
The Raiders could be the ideal option for McDaniels, who could be pairing up with Patriots executive Dave Ziegler, a popular GM candidate for the last handful of years.
#Raiders owner Mark Davis has had interest in Josh McDaniels for weeks. Hard to imagine he puts in the request without believing McDaniels would take the job. This all gets real tomorrow. https://t.co/IoFaERAxBX
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 27, 2022
The big questions following a blockbuster move like this would be centered around whether or not McDaniels would have to have the same type of say over the roster and personnel as he did when he was just 32 years old in Denver.
After all, that is the way he learned from Bill Belichick and that seems to be the same type of mindset most of Belichick’s disciples take with them if/when they are hired by other teams.
For the Las Vegas Raiders, could that mean McDaniels picking a different quarterback besides Derek Carr, or would he want to work with Carr?
For that matter, would Carr want to work with McDaniels?
In situations like this one, you can almost guarantee that McDaniels is going to want to work with his own guy, but who?
Maybe he’s changed his ways. Or maybe he’s more set in them.
Whatever the case, McDaniels is now 45 and after six Super Bowl wins with the Patriots, he’s more than ready to try being an NFL head coach again. Despite all of the negatives that come along with him.