The Las Vegas Raiders have officially fired head coach Josh McDaniels along with their general manager Dave Ziegler according to an official team announcement that was formally made late on Tuesday night, via ESPN.
“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
The Raiders named linebackers coach Antonio Pierce as their interim head coach and have said that current assistant general manager Champ Kelly will serve as interim GM adding that the organization is committed to undergoing “a comprehensive search” for a head coach and general manager “once the season is complete.”
There is no work as to who will take over play-calling duties following the departure of McDaniels, which was his job.
McDaniels and Ziegler were both hired back in January 2022 following an improbable run to the playoffs, the organization’s second since back in 2002, and a surprising 10-7 record for the Raiders, but it all went downhill from there.
Davis stated that McDaniels and Ziegler were expected to take the team to the “next step” but the Raiders would instead go a combined 9-16 without a playoff appearance during the tenure of McDaniels and Ziegler with McDaniels finishing his tenure with the third-worst record of any Raiders coach with at least 25 games, a trend that was heavily covered by NFL journalists and team beat writers.
McDaniels was touted for his success working as head of the offense for the New England Patriots, where he won six Super Bowls, but it did not carry over to the Raiders, who currently have the No. 31 total offense in the NFL, are No. 32 in rushing yards per game (70) and rank No. 30 in points per game (15.8).
McDaniels also failed to properly utilize the premier talent on the Raiders, despite their prior successes, such as wide receivers Hunter Renfrow, Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs.
