Josh McDaniels was hired as a head coach in Denver 14 years ago. Everybody thought he was the next big thing. A season and a half later, he was fired. Then, in 2022, the Las Vegas Raiders gave him a second chance. It was felt the offensive coordinator had learned some valuable lessons from his first stint. A season and a half later, he got fired once again. It has to be the most laugh head coach run in NFL history. People struggle to understand how a man with such a glowing track record as an offensive play caller and multiple Super Bowl rings could be this bad as a head coach.
Whatever the reasons, he is out again. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network delivered a detailed column on what exactly went down that led to the Raiders cutting their head coach loose so abruptly. As is always the case, there were several reasons. However, what stood out the most was how much the Chicago Bears were involved. It started in March when Las Vegas hoped to get involved in trading for the #1 overall pick.
McDaniels apparently wasn’t wild about the idea, selling Jimmy Garoppolo instead.
“The Raiders were among the teams that attempted to trade up for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But based on the timing of the deal — the Panthers traded for the pick on March 10, before the start of free agency — they declined to be involved in trade talks at the end as they did not have a feel for the QBs available in the draft. The feeling was McDaniels didn’t want to have a rookie QB to grow with going into Year 2 and chose the ready-made Garoppolo as his option. The Raiders would have selected Bryce Young, whom the Panthers took at No. 1, if they had traded up. Such a move would have occurred before free agency, negating a need to sign a veteran such as Garoppolo.”
It gets better.
The knockout blow likely came a few months later when the Raiders visited Soldier Field. It looked like a premium opportunity for them. They’d won two games in a row. Chicago had just lost Justin Fields to a dislocated thumb. All the momentum was on Vegas’ side. Then the Bears stomped them 30-12. Much of the energy difference came from McDaniels’ decision at quarterback.
“The decision to start Brian Hoyer against the Bears on Oct. 22 when Garoppolo was out with a back injury was a particularly damning move by McDaniels, one that sources say several in the building disagreed with. Hoyer has been a veteran leader and a great sounding board for the younger players, but he struggled in a blowout loss. Most wanted O’Connell to start, believing he was the better option. With Chicago starting an undrafted free agent Tyson Bagent, McDaniels wanted the veteran Hoyer to run the offense and have a more secure, mistake-free game, but Hoyer threw two interceptions (one returned for a TD) that Sunday. Raiders players did not react well to the decision to play Hoyer.”
Josh McDaniels wasn’t the first victim of the Bears.
Chicago has earned somewhat of a reputation as coach killers. They crushed Jacksonville 40-17 in 2020 on their way to a wild card playoff spot. The Jaguars fired Doug Marrone a few weeks later. They defeated the Raiders 20-9 behind a rookie, Justin Fields, in Las Vegas in 2021. Head coach Jon Gruden was gone shortly after. The same thing happened to Joe Judge after the Bears routed the New York Giants at Soldier Field 29-3. Now, the same has happened to Josh McDaniels.
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One could argue the Bears might be carrying a curse. If you’re a head coach uncertain about his job security, you better not lose a lopsided game to Chicago. There is a strong probability you won’t be employed much longer. It is fascinating to think what might’ve happened if Las Vegas would’ve made the trade to #1 instead of Carolina. Would the Bears be employing Maxx Crosby instead of D.J. Moore? There are so many threads of fate unexplored. Either way, it’s nice to see this team do a good deed for the league.
