2022 NFL Power Rankings: Ranking every new head coach in 2022
New NFL head coach no. 1: Josh McDaniels, Las Vegas Raiders
player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. AFC West. 1. 28. Las Vegas Raiders. Josh McDaniels
Here we are at #1 and it is another former Patriots coach. Josh McDaniels was not my favorite hire when the news leaked but the more you examine the situation the better it looks.
We always talk about the McVay/Shanahan tree but the Belichick tree doesn’t have the same level of prestige.
Understandably so as McDaniels was already a head coach for the Denver Broncos in 2009 but after a record of 11-17 he was terminated.
McDaniels learned from that situation when he received his second chance with the Las Vegas Raiders (via ProFootballTalk):
"“When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit of football,” McDaniels said. “I didn’t really know people and how important that aspect of this process, and maintaining the culture and building the team was. And I failed, and I didn’t succeed at it. Looking at that experience has been one of the best things in my life in terms of my overall growth as a person, as a coach. What do I need to do different, how do I need to handle my role, if I have another opportunity, and do better at it? I feel like that’s really an area that I’ve tried to grow in.”"
McDaniels, like Bowles and Pederson, has the benefit of a mulligan. They can reflect on the mistakes they made then and strive to do better now.
While Belichick is the mastermind in New England it cannot be ignored that McDaniels ran the offense as the coordinator for 14 seasons which led to six Super Bowl titles.
Belichick receives the majority of the credit for the success of the Brady era, as he should, but McDaniels wasn’t exactly sitting on the sidelines himself.
Now he enters Las Vegas and spent the offseason acquiring the best wide receiver in the league, Davante Adams, defensive end 2x All-Pro Chandler Jones, and a host of exciting and talented free agents to build up the roster.
Unlike in Denver where McDaniels drafted a rookie in Tim Tebow, he is coming into a building where quarterback Derek Carr has established his leadership and athletic prowess for eight seasons.
The roster still needs some tweaking but McDaniels has surrounded himself with a loaded staff, a dangerous roster, and all his knowledge gained from his time in New England and Denver. The McDaniels era has begun.