There was no shortage of reactions to the Las Vegas Raiders’ decision to fire head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. Fans were tired of this regime, and you know who agreed with them? Pat McAfee.
While McAfee explained his take on the firings, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio took a different approach with his remarks. Rather than discuss the aftermath and what the future holds for the Silver and Black, Florio states that the Raiders should’ve never hired McDaniels in the first place.
Every NFL media member had a take on Wednesday following the aftermath of the firings, so let’s dive into what Florio and McAfee had to say.
Pat McAfee offers his reaction to the Raiders firings
Las Vegas’ 26-14 loss to the Detroit Lions put the McDaniels issues on the national media platform. The defeat on “Monday Night Football” allowed everyone to see what Raiders fans have been saying about the team’s struggles under the 47-year-old.
Fans’ voices were initially ignored when owner Mark Davis told a group to “smarten up” after calls for him to fire McDaniels. While it’s easy to brush off fans, it’s not easy to ignore the ESPN cameras capturing Davante Adams’ frustration.
As a result, the franchise had to pull the plug on the McDaniels era. Now, was it the right decision? ESPN’s Pat McAfee praised the Raiders’ decision despite not being a fan of people losing their employment.
“I don’t want anybody to lose their jobs ever,” McAfee said on Wednesday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show.” “Anybody that wants to work, I hope you have a job. We’re lacking people with work ethic, so I never want anybody to ever lose a job, especially people that would like to work. With that being said, I’m also a big fan of ownership telling their fans, ‘Yeah, I ain’t happy with this s–t either.’ And that feels like this particular move.”
The Raiders named Antonio Pierce as interim head coach and Champ Kelly as interim general manager. It’s a Hail Mary move from Las Vegas to save their 2023 season. Will it work? The Silver and Black get a bad New York Giants team this Sunday. They’ll need a win here to help their chase back to .500.
Mike Florio: Raiders shouldn’t have hired Josh McDaniels
Pierce will look to follow in the footsteps of Rich Bisaccia, who, as interim head coach, guided the Silver and Black to the playoffs. Eventually, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator took over for Bisaccia.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easier to offer an opinion now on McDaniels. Nonetheless, Florio can’t help but think that the now-Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator should still be in Las Vegas for how he navigated the squad through the entire Jon Gruden situation.
“Davis never should have hired him,” Florio told Rich Eisen on Wednesday’s edition of “The Rich Eisen Show.” “I heard one of your folks say that Bisaccia should have gotten the job. Yes. Look at what Bisaccia did under the most difficult circumstances. All the Gruden stuff that happened. The emails, the firing, or whatever, [and] the Henry Ruggs situation in 2021—for crying out loud.
“What Mike Mayock and Rich Bisaccia did to get that team to the playoffs—they almost beat the Bengals, who almost beat the Rams in the Super Bowl—should have kept Bisaccia, should have kept [Mayock]. That was the first mistake. And hiring McDaniels without a commitment to keeping him long-term was the second mistake.”
Now that the Raiders have changed the coaching staff and front office, what are your expectations for the rest of the season? Can Pierce pull a Bisaccia? Are you simply waiting for this campaign to finish to see what regime comes in the offseason?
Suppose Pierce gets them even within a shot of the playoffs. Should Las Vegas consider him for the permanent job and avoid repeating the Bisaccia mistake? Or do you have a different direction the Silver and Black should take? Let us know.
*Top Photo: Joshua R. Gateley/ESPN Images
