The Josh McDaniels regime ended last week when the Las Vegas Raiders fired the then-head coach, and many of their fans seemed to say, “Good riddance.”
Despite possessing ample talent both offensively and defensively, the Raiders went only a combined 9-16 under McDaniels since the start of last season, and some felt their players simply weren’t responding to him.
In fact, Jay Glazer revealed some poignant details from a team meeting that was held shortly after McDaniels was fired.
According to Glazer, player after player “unloaded,” as he put it, on McDaniels. But the defining moment of the meeting came when Antonio Pierce, who served as a linebackers coach under McDaniels, got up to speak.
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Pierce said that the team needs to have its own culture. He then brought up the 2007 New York Giants team that he played on that beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that season and talked about how they believed they could beat anyone that season. Glazer said that after Pierce spoke, the players felt better about themselves, and owner Mark Davis then decided to fire Josh McDaniels and replace him with Pierce.
Pierce has served as an NFL coach for not even two full seasons, yet he won his first game as a head coach when Las Vegas blasted the current edition of the Giants 30-6. It was able to do so despite starting Aidan O’Connell, a rookie, at quarterback instead of veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, who had been benched last week.
Multiple Raiders players had previously blasted the team’s culture this year. Sometimes when a team has an incapable coach it doesn’t want to follow, simply replacing him with someone its players like and respect makes all the difference in the world.
The 4-5 Raiders will have a shot at getting to .500 this Sunday when they host the struggling New York Jets.
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