derek carr josh mcdaniels
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Derek Carr with Josh McDaniels.
When the Las Vegas Raiders hired Josh McDaniels to be head coach, it was a polarizing move, but it made a lot of sense. He’s widely considered one of the top offensive playcallers in the NFL.
He proved that again this past season, as he helped lead the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl. However, he couldn’t even finish two full seasons as the head coach of the Raiders before being fired.
Players who were part of the McDaniels teams have mostly said that they liked him as a person, but it just didn’t work out without giving many more details. Former quarterback Derek Carr has no reason to like McDaniels after he decided to bench and then cut him.
Despite that, Carr doesn’t harbor any hard feelings toward McDaniels, but he finally did open up about why exactly the coach didn’t work in Las Vegas.
“Him and I, we’re great,” Carr said of McDaniels on the “3 & Out” podcast. “The hard part about that season was, you get in the head coach seat and he’s a brilliant playcaller and one-on-one, he’s freaking awesome. … But then you go in there, and the culture we had built, and what was hard for me, the culture that I had worked so hard to build throughout the years with all the changes and to hold it together … it comes in and immediately, it’s a completely different cutlure. …
“It was such a culture shift that it affected the whole team.”
Why Was McDaniels So Intent on Changing the Culture?
The Raiders were coming off a playoff appearance the year before McDaniels took over, so it’s odd that he would be intent on changing the culture overnight. At the same time, the Raiders have been such a mess for over two decades. Perhaps he thought that’s what the franchise needed.
In hindsight, he likely would’ve been less aggressive in trying to change the culture. McDaniels already had a reputation for not being very likable, so coming in so strongly likely rubbed a lot of players the wrong way. If he’s somehow able to get a head coaching job again, he’ll likely try to do things differently.
Will McDaniels Ever Be a Head Coach Again?
McDaniels has now been fired by two franchises before finishing his second season. While he is very successful as an offensive coordinator, he’s only been able to do well in New England.
It’s hard to imagine another franchise wanting to give him a shot to be a head coach. For whatever reason, he might just not have the personality to lead a team. He knows what he’s doing when it comes to calling plays, but the Raiders couldn’t wait to get him out of the building.
If he’s going to succeed as a head coach, he’s going to need a long-term commitment from a team, but that’s unlikely to happen. Perhaps he’s already accepted that he won’t be a head coach again and is fine with that. He’s certainly getting paid handsomely by the Patriots just to call offensive plays.