Josh McDaniels is in his first season as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and already in the hot seat. After taking over a roster that made the playoffs last year and adding superstars in the offseason, has amounted a 2-7 record. Just this weekend, the Raiders suffered their worst loss of the season by way of a 25-20 defeat in Lass Vegas to the struggling Indianapolis Colts who themselves, just issued a drastic coaching change.
The Raiders have been the biggest team disappointment this season. Their offense has been middle of the pack which isn't much of a difference from any other year, but their defense is bottom-3 in the league. They are giving up over 25 points and over 375 yards per game to their opponents, which both rank 27th in the league.
McDaniels signed a 4-year contract worth approximately $1-million a year. The coaches contract details are very scarce to find and after last year's debacle with the firing of Jon Gruden, the head coaching position of the Raiders (at least from the Raiders perspective) will be much better off in a state of consistency for now. That is to say, even though McDaniels can't buy a win at this point, he's still better for the team than interim coaches and implementing new schemes in the middle of a season again.
The former 2-time Patriots offensive coordinator has had a previous head coaching stint before with the Denver Broncos in 2009 and 2010. He was fired from that job with a 12-17 record and a short few years later was back with the Patriots as the OC.
Leading up to last season, McDaniels had been sought after by many teams for a couple of years to be their new head coach. One of those teams 3 years ago was the Indianapolis Colts, who before the 2018 season got a verbal agreement from McDaniels, before changing his mind and staying with the Colts amidst speculation
McDaniels was promised Belichick's job after he retired. Coming full circle four-and-a-half years later and the Colts may be the ones who get McDaniels fired from his new job.
If McDaniels doesn't get fired in the next two days he will almost assuredly be given a leash of at least this season with his job. Truth be told the Raiders do not want to go looking or another coach this soon so it is very likely McDaniels gets the lead in the 2023 season as well for the Raiders.
Coincidentally, the Patriots have not replaced McDaniels role of offensive coordinator and have been using a carousel of coaches to fill the role they desperately need. The Patriots have struggled offensively this year without McDaniels and could be in the hunt for an OC next season if you see where I'm getting at. It wouldn't make the first time McDaniels came "crawling" back.
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-Z.D.
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