Raiders reject Patriotizing: Fire Coach McDaniels, GM Dave Ziegler

A couple of hours before midnight on Halloween, 2023, the Las Vegas Raiders shed their Patriots costume. It was a bad fit.

In his best move since hiring Jon Gruden, Raiders owner Mark Davis fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, whose experiment to Patriotize the Silver and Black was a disaster.

“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” Davis said in a statement Tuesday evening. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”

Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will take over as interim coach. Champ Kelly, the Raiders’ assistant general manager, will replace Ziegler at least for the rest of the season.

In a curious coincidence, Peter Schrager of Good Morning Football, dressed as former Raiders owner and Mark’s father Al Davis for the Tuesday show and all day was overwhelmed with social media reaction from Raider Nation to fire McDaniels and Ziegler.

Although some may see this mid-season move as a surprise, it was actually overdue less than two seasons into their tenures and a day after a horrid showing on the national TV stage of “Monday Night Football.”

The Raiders won only nine of their 25 games under the two, who arrived from New England in January 2022. That includes a 6-11 finish last season and the 3-5 start to this season.

McDaniels and Ziegler filled the Raiders roster with 15 former Patriots, including quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who leads the league in interceptions and will probably be replaced by rookie Aidan O’Connell.

After an embarrassing performance in Monday night’s 26-14 loss at Detroit, the Raiders made no moves before the Tuesday player trade deadline. It is doubtful players would want to join a team in such disarray. In fact, Vegas’ All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams tried his best to say nothing to the media after he caught only one pass in the game and was missed at least twice on potential touchdowns.

He displayed his emotions after being overthrown while open by ten yards. He went to the bench and slammed his helmet to the ground.

During the game, defensive end Maxx Crosby again played what fans call Raider Football as he led the team with ferocious tackling and even stripped the ball for a recovered fumble when the Lions were inside the 5.

The Raiders played consistently bad football under McDaniels, whose strength was supposed to be on offense. The Raiders’ performance on offense this year is one of the worst in the league.

McDaniels failed to get much out of the quarterback position, with Derek Carr’s play languishing down the stretch last season before he was benched and later released. His replacement, Garoppolo, ranks as one of the worst quarterbacks in the league this season.

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