Anonymous Raiders reveal what led to ‘clueless’ HC’s firing
The Las Vegas Raiders lack of success under head coach Josh McDaniels ultimately cost him his job. However, culture played a significant role in owner Mark Davis’ decision to start fresh.
Davis believed the “joy” players once took in being a Raider faded under McDaniels. Still, one of his former players says he never got the memo that it was no longer fun to don the silver and black.
Carpenter spoke with several Raiders; most seemingly had positive things to say about the man. However, while the world was crumbling around the Raiders, McDaniels was oblivious and naively charged forward with the same plan of attack that had the team treading water at best and going backward at worst.
The direction McDaniels had the team on led to frustration, a lost locker room and a severely displeased owner.
Before deciding to fire McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, Davis brought up his concerns to the head coach, leading to a team-wide meeting ahead of their Week 8 contest against the Detroit Lions.
Several members of the team or coaching staff reportedly had their names mentioned during the airing of grievances, but McDaniels was too, leaving him “Distant, hurt,” according to another player.
McDaniels was allegedly caught off guard by how some on the team felt, and the meeting, while intending to clear the air before moving forward, suddenly made the situation irreparable.
“I felt better, like Josh had heard us, and we all had heard each other, but afterward, I knew it was probably f—— worse,” another Raider told Carpenter. “He was like out of it. Like when you gets hit in the face, like he didn’t know what was happening.”
It’s a small sample size, but since the Raiders parted ways with McDaniels and Ziegler, the team has rallied around another interim head coach in Antonio Pierce. The Raiders are 1-0 in the Pierce era after a 30-6 drubbing of the New York Giants in Week 9.
Being a Raider is fun again, for now.
