With the Raiders hiring of Josh McDaniels to be their new head coach, Rex Ryan has praised Oakland for making a “home run” by snagging him away from New England. In his press conference yesterday morning, he said that at this point in time it’s easy to say the Raiders have made a wise decision going with McDaniels in hopes of turning around their fortunes.
The “josh mcdaniels” is a football coach who was hired by the Oakland Raiders. He led the team to a 10-6 record and an AFC Wild Card berth in his first season as head coach.
The New York Giants poached their new general manager and head coach from the AFC East, so the Las Vegas Raiders went out and got their own version.
The coaching/general manager tree of the New England Patriots bears fruit this time. According to several reports on Sunday, the Raiders and former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have come to terms on a contract that would make McDaniels the next head coach in Las Vegas.
Former Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler will join McDaniels as the Raiders’ new general manager.
After heading another AFC West club, the Denver Broncos, from 2009-10, this would be McDaniels’ second true head coaching term in the NFL. The Raiders are attempting to restore some stability to a club that had a turbulent and at times heartbreaking season but still managed to qualify for the NFL Playoffs as a Wild Card team by signing one of the best offensive brains in the game.
Rex Ryan is ecstatic about the Raiders’ acquisition, calling it a “home run.”
Getty Images/Omar Rawlings/Josh McDaniels
For much of Tom Brady’s time in New England, McDaniels served as his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, and they were together for all six of the Patriots’ Super Bowl victories during the Bill Belichick era, the final four with McDaniels serving as quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator, or both.
Brady had arguably the greatest season by a quarterback in league history in 2007, when he threw 50 touchdown passes while under McDaniels’ direction as offensive coordinator.
In 2010, Ziegler landed his first NFL personnel role with the Broncos under McDaniels, and by 2021, Belichick had named him the team’s personnel point person. After the difficult tenure of John Gruden as head coach and Mike Mayock as general manager, McDaniels and Ziegler attended John Carroll University together, and their tight friendship is considered as a crucial factor in their combined hire.
The Raiders’ decision to hire McDaniels was greeted positively by the morning pregame shows on Sunday. Rex Ryan, the former head coach of the New York Jets who is now an ESPN NFL commentator, was one of the most effusive in his appreciation.
Ryan noted on ESPN’s “Postseason NFL Countdown” on Sunday, “This is a tremendous hiring for the Raiders.” “This man is one of the finest football coaches in the National Football League, don’t get me wrong.” The fact that he was so young at the time [when he was coaching the Broncos]. He’s taken some time off from his post as head coach to return here.
“I believe this is a fantastic signing for the Raiders.” They couldn’t have picked a better individual, in my opinion. So, if I’m Derek Carr, I’m ecstatic to have this man right now. In my opinion, this is a home run.”
McDaniels’ previous head coaching stints were a disaster.
Despite his coaching success under Belichick, McDaniels’ career as a head coach is somewhat different. He did not play for the Broncos for two seasons, going 2-8 in the last ten games of his first season, finishing 8-8 and missing the playoffs.
In his second season, the team went 3-9 through 12 games and was embroiled in a videotaping scandal reminiscent of the “Spygate” scandal that rocked the 2007 Patriots and which McDaniels was also a part of. The league penalized McDaniels and the Broncos $50,000 apiece in the Broncos controversy, although the league also cleared McDaniels and the team of knowing about the tape plan beforehand.
Nonetheless, the Broncos dismissed McDaniels following Week 12 when he was found guilty of failing to report the event to the league office after knowing about it.
The Indianapolis Colts interviewed McDaniels for their open head coaching position in 2018, and he was hired in early February. But, on the same day as the announcement, McDaniels shocked the league by withdrawing from consideration and staying with the Patriots as offensive coordinator.
Will Bill O’Brien be rehired as offensive coordinator by the Patriots?
Now it’s the Patriots’ turn to hire a coach, and it’s widely assumed that former offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, who held the position in 2011 before leaving to coach Penn State University in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the firing of head coach Joe Paterno, will be the frontrunner. In New England, McDaniels took over for O’Brien, reclaiming his old job and keeping it until this weekend.
Now, it’s possible that Bill O’Brien, who took over as head coach of the Houston Texans in 2014 and lasted in that post until being sacked as coach and general manager in 2020, may return to the Patriots to replace McDaniels.
O’Brien worked as the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama in 2021, reporting to Belichick’s best friend, Nick Saban.
It’s a small world.
Pro Football Reference provided the statistics.
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