So far, Josh McDaniels has yet to bail on the Raiders after being hired as the team’s head coach. Apparently, some of the players would prefer if he did.
According to The Athletic, several Las Vegas players are less than thrilled by the team hiring the ex-Patriots offensive coordinator. They were instead hoping owner Mark Davis would have hired 2021 interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
“Raiders players were disappointed to hear the news after they had made a serious push for interim coach Rich Bisaccia and his staff,” the article said. “The players themselves probably thought the curse was over after they had overcome a series of off-field incidents and won four straight games down the stretch to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.”
In addition to the players, The Athletic also noted that the remaining coaching staff held over from Bisaccia’s tenure was “disappointed and a little bitter.”
McDaniels, despite engineering the Patriots offense that won six Super Bowls with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, comes with serious baggage as a head coach. His tenure as the head coach in Denver lasted less than two seasons, in which he alienated and traded quarterback Jay Cutler and receiver Brandon Marshall and was implicated in a videotaping scandal.
He was then hired by the Colts in 2018, only to renege on his deal and return to New England. The Athletic noted that those around the league believe McDaniels “has matured and been humbled since losing the Broncos job and leaving the Colts at the altar in 2018.” The Raiders will now find out if that is true.
Bisaccia, who also interviewed for the Jaguars’ head coaching vacancy, took over the Raiders midway through 2021 after Jon Gruden resigned amid his infamous email scandal. The team went 7-5 under his watch and made the playoffs, though they ended up losing to the Super Bowl-bound Bengals in the Wild Card round.