Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, via NBC Sports, recently spoke about his former head coach, who’s now the top man with the Las Vegas Raiders, Josh McDaniels.
Speaking on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, both he and Paul Burmeister had a conversation regarding McDaniels and another coach, Kyle Shanahan. Both of the offensive gurus are somewhat polarizing figures for different reasons. Not only that, both commentators alluded to the fact that both coaches are obsessed with winning. Football literally dominates their lives, which doesn’t always make you the nicest person or most approachable. Simms played for McDaniels back in 2009, during the coach’s first shot at running a squad. Anyone who’s played for or worked with McDaniels will surely have some interesting insight.
“They’re both psychos. Yep. In a good way, in a good way. exactly right. It’s like it’s just all football. It’s all football all the time. McDaniels is a little bit more like a robot, you know, with a more soft-spoken.”
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The Las Vegas Raiders have themselves a football beast in Josh McDaniels
McDaniels’ run with the Denver Broncos has gone down in NFL infamy. At that time, he was the hot offensive coordinator prospect, and with such hype naturally came a level of arrogance. The man was winning Super Bowls with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Who wouldn’t carry themselves that way? Unfortunately, McDaniels was quickly humbled and wouldn’t even finish his second season as head coach.
In the years that followed, several claims by former players came out regarding McDaniels. The most notable being that he encouraged cheating. McDaniels has changed since then, stated Simms, who was there.
“To just [not] be so cutthroat, it’d be like it’s my way or the highway and that’s it, I’m the head coach. He’s grown, realizing the people skills or relationships are just as important as the X’s and O’s or me being a machine and finding the right ways to kill a defense.”
That all sounds good. Managing people and egos requires a certain sensibility, and the way one handles all that is key on a sports team. Yes, McDaniels is without question one of the best offensive minds of the last 16 years, but it’ll take more than that to find success in Sin City. There will be moments when being “cutthroat” is required, but in the big picture, the question remains, can McDaniels find the right way to lead this team? After what they went through last season, this Raiders squad is battle-tested. What they need now is a leader.
*Top Photo: Courtesy of Raiders Official Website