In a late-night announcement out West on Tuesday, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis decided to fire his head coach Josh McDaniels and his 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,” Davis said in a statement. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
Antonio Pierce, the team’s linebackers coach who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants during his playing career in 2007, was named the club’s interim head coach. Champ Kelly, who was serving as Ziegler’s assistant GM, will replace him as the team’s interim GM.
Davis stated that the organization is committed to “a comprehensive search” for a new HC and GM “once the season is complete.”
Las Vegas dropped a 26-14 decision at Detroit on Monday Night Football as a seven-point road underdog. The loss dropped the Raiders to 3-5 straight up, and 3-4-1 against the spread.
Davis hired both McDaniels and Ziegler in January of 2022 when the franchise was coming off a 10-7 campaign and just its second postseason berth since 2002. But the Raiders went 9-16 during McDaniels’s tenure.
In his only other stint as a HC, McDaniels was also pink slipped by the Denver Broncos before his second season on the job was over. And let’s be clear here: The man that helped Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots win six Super Bowls as offensive coordinator earned this dismissal.
On his watch in 2022, the Raiders took a bagel at New Orleans in a game in which they never crossed midfield. Las Vegas also blew a 20-0 halftime lead against the Arizona Cardinals, in addition to losing to the Colts in Jeff Saturday’s first game as a HC.
There were plenty of other shameful defeats, including a loss to the Rams just two days after they signed Baker Mayfield and started him at QB.
Pierce is the eighth different HC for the Raiders since Davis took over as owner when his father, Al Davis, passed way in 2011. He’ll make his debut against his former team, the Giants, on Sunday.
As of early Wednesday morning, Las Vegas was a 2.5-point home favorite vs. the G-Men.