Did a heated players & coaches meeting lead to he Raiders firing head coach Josh McDaniels?
As the Raiders and their fans deal with the sudden dismissal of head coach Josh McDaniels, new details are beginning to emerge about how it all went down.
On Halloween night Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis announced his decision to fire head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. Though Davis has since explained the motivations for his decisions, it now seems that there was a significant pretext for that moment and one that Davis could not ignore.
Heated team meeting was the catalyst in Josh McDaniel’s dismissal
Though many have pointed to the possible instability that could result from the removal of Josh McDaniels as Las Vegas Raiders head coach just one and half seasons into his tenure, the picture painted by a recent report seems to suggest that there was no other way. Indeed, according to FOX Sports, McDaniel’s fate was sealed following a volatile team meeting that occurred days before his official dismissal. “There was such a big disconnect with the players there and Josh McDaniels,” the report stated. “The players had recently gone upstairs to the owner, Mark Davis, to tell (him) what their problems were.”
What came next was a weekday meeting between coaches and players in which there was an “airing of the grievances.” It is understood that during the sit-down, “players just unloaded on Josh McDaniels, from captain to captain to player to player.” At that point, McDaniels reportedly had linebackers coach Antonio Pierce “get up and speak on behalf of him”, however, Pierce who is a former Giants star referenced New York’s old Super Bowl upsets of the Patriots in an effort to motivate players, but it only served to offend McDaniels who as we know was New England’s longtime offensive coordinator.
More insight on Josh McDaniel’s firing and Antonio Pierce’s promotion
As the saying goes, ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ To that end, it’s understood that once word of the rift got to franchise owner Mark Davis, he actually preferred Pierce’s approach at which point he reportedly made the decision to fire McDaniels, while simultaneously promoting Pierce to the role of interim head coach for the remainder of the season. From a forensic point of view, it’s worth noting that similar sentiments have been stated by NFL Media itself, which indicated last week that McDaniels was “distant” and “not himself” following what was described as a “vicious” meeting. ESPN’s Ian Rapoport echoed the same, saying “Players, coaches had ripped into him. It was ugly. ...Players felt that he was there (at practice afterward) in body and not in spirit. Essentially...(the meeting) broke him.”
At this point, the Raiders sit on a record of 4-5 and are second in the AFC West behind reigning the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs following a Sunday night 30-6 win against the New York Giants. In control of the team for the first time and facing the team with whom he made his name, Antonio Pierce got off to as good a start as he could have hoped for. Up next for the first-time head coach is a date with the New York Jets in Week 10, a contest that the Raiders will need to win if they are to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.