On Halloween night, the Las Vegas Raiders franchise finally ended the Josh McDaniels mistake after only 25 games as the team's head coach. McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were brought to Las Vegas from New England to try and install the "Patriot Way" to a franchise that had been to the playoffs only twice since the 2002 NFL season.
McDaniels and Ziegler came with a lot of hype, especially the head coach, who won multiple NFL titles as offensive coordinator for the Patriots. Of course, he won those titles with Tom Brady as his quarterback, and his in previous run as a head coach, he floundered out in Denver after one-plus seasons.
That would be his fate with the Raiders as well, as it was clear he was in way over his head when it came to the job. He made terrible decision on the field, as well as in personnel, and in the end, it cost him his second chance at being a long-term head coach in the NFL.
But where does McDaniels rank in the history of the Raiders franchise? After reports came out that he nixed a chance to bring in Ohio State star quarterback CJ Stroud during the 2023 NFL Draft, a quarterback who has taken the NFL by storm in Year 1, that could be the final straw in him being the worst head coach in team history.
McDaniels is the worst head coach in Raiders history
We have seen some bad head coaches in Raiders history, guys who could not get it done on the field, and made some terrible decisions in free agency and the NFL Draft. However, McDaniels takes the cake, as he was a complete joke of a hire since the day he was announced by team owner Mark Davis.
McDaniels fumbled draft capital, made horrific on-field decisions, and divided a locker room that he inherited after the team went to the playoffs the year before.
With no clear replacement, he let Derek Carr go, traded away Darren Waller, and instead of getting a true blue-chip player at a position of need in Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft in Jalen Carter, he took a chance on Tyree Wilson. To make matters worse, the reports are that Ziegler wanted Stroud in the draft, only to be overruled by a guy who instead threw money at Jimmy Garoppolo in the offseason.
In almost every game he coached for the Raiders, there were numerous bonehead decisions by McDaniels, and it was clear that he lost the locker room early on. Between the awful decisions on the field, the terrible personnel calls by him, and the fact that blew up a team that just made the playoffs, McDaniels should go down as the worst head coach in Raiders history.
Hopefully, interim head coach Antonio Pierce, or whoever is at the helm next season and in the future can do what McDaniels could not.