Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis said Wednesday that he fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler on the belief that the team was not going to improve under their leadership. Davis claimed that he wanted to wait until the trade deadline to clean house.
“Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,” Davis told ESPN. “It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction. So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
In addition to McDaniels and Ziegler, Davis also fired offensive coordinator Mike Lombardi to finish a nearly complete personnel change. Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce has been promoted to interim head coach, assistant general manager Champ Kelly as interim general manager and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree as the interim offensive coordinator.
The Raiders are in the midst of a horrendous season, as they currently hold a 3-5 record despite an abundance of talent on both sides of the ball. With wide receiver Davante Adams and running back Josh Jacobs on offense and DPoY contender Maxx Crosby on defense, the team seemed poised for success before the season. Instead, some of these stars have simply grown frustrated as the team has cycled through quarterbacks without finding any answers.
Adams has been the most vocal in his criticism of the team, which makes some sense considering he was traded to Las Vegas in 2022 as the team was rebuilding. Since then, the Raiders have sent away quarterback Derek Carr and acquired Jimmy Garoppolo, who has struggled immensely when he hasn’t missed time due to injuries.
In a 26-14 defeat to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, Adams made just one catch for 11 yards despite appearing open for big plays through the game. He was visibly frustrated speaking to reporters after the game.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to say at this moment,” Adams said. “I truly don’t. I wish I had the words to say something that’s not going to get blown up in the media and taken out of context.”
This isn’t the first time Adams has expressed his frustrations with the team, and though his comments led to rampant trade rumors, he is apparently in Las Vegas to stay for the time being. He is currently on pace to have one of the worst seasons of his career, including his early ones in Green Bay before he rose to stardom.
In the backfield, Jacobs has managed to find slightly more production, as he is not as reliant on the team’s quarterback. But as a whole, the offense is vastly underperforming and the defense is struggling in turn.
