On the heels of an embarrassing Monday Night Football performance in which the team fell to the Detroit Lions, the Las Vegas Raiders are going to make some major changes. In a bit of news that the franchise announced in the early hours of Wednesday night, Las Vegas decided to fire head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.
“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 released on the team’s Twitter account. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Las Vegas will turn things over to linebackers coach Antonio Pierce in the interim.
Sources; Raiders are planning to name LB coach Antonio Pierce as their interim head coach. pic.twitter.com/ABVVZSCsV8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 1, 2023
Both McDaniels and Ziegler came to the Raiders ahead of the 2022 season from the New England Patriots — McDaniels was the offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick, while Ziegler was the team’s director of player personnel. It marked the first time that Ziegler was put in charge of an NFL front office, but for McDaniels, this was by no means his first foray into head coaching, as he previously coached the Denver Broncos from 2008-09.
The decision means that McDaniels has now been fired during his second season in both of his head coaching stops, as the Broncos fired him 12 games into his second year at the helm. Here, McDaniels lost his job after the team fell to 3-5 on the year, including back-to-back road losses to the Chicago Bears and the Lions immediately before his ouster. Despite the success he had in New England as an offensive coordinator, the Raiders are currently 31st out of 32 teams in yards per game, and 30th in points per game.
Next up for Las Vegas is a home tilt against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium.