The Las Vegas Raiders have dismissed coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.
Owner Mark Davis made the move on Tuesday night, one night after the team lost to Detroit in Detroit on “Monday Night Football,” dropping the Raiders to 3-5 this season (Raiders fire coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler).
Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce – the former New York Giants linebacker – has been elevated to interim head coach. Ironically, the Raiders host the Giants on Sunday.
Assistant general manager Champ Kelly will be the franchise’s interim GM. Kelly broke into the league in 2007 as a scout, and was the Chicago Bears’ director of player personnel from 2015-2021. He’s been a past candidate for various GM positions around the league, and was named the Raiders’ assistant GM on Feb. 2, 2022. Kelly is a former University of Kentucky wide receiver (1998-2001)
“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” Davis said, via a released statement. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
There is this: McDaniels called his own offensive plays. And on Wednesday morning, Albert Breer of SI.com (Sports Illustrated) reported that offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was also dismissed.
McDaniels was the Raiders coach in the 2021 and ’22 seasons, then for the first eight games this year. He guided them to the postseason in ’21, falling Cincinnati in a wild-card game, then missed the playoffs a year ago (a 6-11 finish). In that season, Las Vegas lost five games that they had led by double-digits.
After the season, the team cut starting quarterback Derek Carr, meaning they got nothing for him in return.
Nothing really has gone right for the Raiders since the beginning of last season, and there were even rumors that wide receiver Davante Adams, whom Ziegler and McDaniels acquired in a trade with Green Bay in ‘21, would be traded before the trade deadline. That didn’t happen, but the Raiders weren’t active at all in trades.
Now, we know why.
