The Las Vegas Raiders’ search for a new head coach could be coming to a culmination with a familiar name likely landing the job.
According to multiple media reports, Las Vegas will interview New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for their vacancy on Friday.
As NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport suggests, Raiders owner Mark Davis has been pining over McDaniels over the past few weeks. “Hard to imagine he (Davis) puts in the request without believing McDaniels would take the job,” Rapoport noted. “This all gets real tomorrow.”
So is McDaniels going to be the next Raiders head coach? It stands to reason that this will in fact be the case. And in surprise fashion, this report comes one day after another report suggested that McDaniels had fallen out of favor in Vegas.
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All of this comes after de facto Patriots general manager and personnel man Dave Ziegler interviewed to replace Mike Mayock earlier in the process.
We see it all the time. Teams attempting to pair individuals who have worked with one another and boast a solid relationship.
Sans a three-year run outside of the Patriots’ organization from 2009-2011 (Broncos head coach, Rams offensive coordinator), McDaniels has been one of the faces of New England’s organization. He acted as the teams offensive coordinator from 2006-08 and returned to that role back in 2013.
As for Zeigler, he’s been with the Patriots’ front office for the past nine seasons. Obviously, there’s a solid working relationship here.
The Las Vegas Raiders hiring McDaniels wouldn’t come without some controversy. Back in February of 2018, the Indianapolis Colts announced that they had hired him to become their next head coach. Even after hiring assistants for his staff, McDaniels backed out of the deal later that same day. It did not paint the respected offensive mind in the greatest of lights.
As for his success as a coordinator, it speaks for itself. He’s led 12 top-10 scoring offenses in 13 seasons in that role with New England. Sure some will point to Tom Brady’s presence prior to his exit in 2020. But it must be noted that New England’s offense hummed a long to the tune of a No. 6 scoring unit under rookie quarterback Mac Jones this past regular season.
For the Raiders, getting this hire right will set the tone for the franchise moving forward. The team is coming off a surprising playoff season, one that included then-head coach Jon Gruden resigning in disgrace.