It’s amazing to see the number of chances that NFL coach Josh McDaniels gets that others more deserving most certainly do not.
As the current head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, McDaniels’s team fell to 2-5 after Sunday’s 24-0 obliteration by the Saints in New Orleans.
Coming off a big win last week over the Texans, which isn’t that hard considering Houston’s record, the Raiders looked listless and disinterested in Sunday’s contest. It was almost like they didn’t care.
When a team shows that type of effort and concern, it’s a reflection of leadership, and that starts and ends with Josh McDaniels.
McDaniels garners attention for his success as an offensive coordinator, and rightfully so. Yet when he’s handed the heading coaching reins, he fails to live up to the hype.
Remember, he took over a Raiders organization that finished 10-7 and second in the AFC West in 2021. That team was led by interim head coach Rich Bisaccia after Jon Gruden was fired after week 5 due to the email scandal that broke in October 2021. Bisaccia, to his credit, rallied the team and went 7-5 after Gruden started 3-2.
Despite the results, the team wanted someone different. A coach who acquiesced to the prototype of NFL head coaches owners more frequently desired.
Young, offensive-minded coaches who could cultivate offenses, develop quarterbacks and put points on the board.
And the color of their skin was a factor based on the fact that only two Black head coaches, David Culley (2021) and Lovie Smith (2022), were hired out of 16 initial openings over two years; Todd Bowles ascended to Tampa’s head coach after Bruce Arians revealed his succession plan.
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