According to reports, Josh McDaniels was quite saddened to learn of his termination from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Owner Mark Davis dismissed McDaniels and General Manager Dave Ziegler last week after the Vegas Golden Knights’ disappointing Monday night loss to the Detroit Lions left them at 3-5 on the season. Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly took the places of McDaniels and Ziegler, respectively.
On Halloween night last Tuesday, McDaniels’ children had completed trick-or-treating when he called to break the bad news, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic:
“Josh McDaniels called his kids home from trick-or-treating Tuesday night to break the news. He had just been fired as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The tenor of a fun Halloween night had quickly spun into the cold reality of the coaching business.”
TRENDING: Turns out ex-#Raiders coach Josh McDaniels learned the news of his firing while his kids were out trick-or-treating on Halloween, and he had to call them back home on Tuesday night to break the news to his family, per @jeffphowe
This happened just a few days after… https://t.co/9GVOQYup7c pic.twitter.com/jQXkwfHaUm
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 8, 2023
𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧: The #Raiders indeed have a meeting where players and coaches ripped into Josh McDanials.https://t.co/Cu1Q5oKGg5
At one point Antonio Pierce spoke up about the Patriots – after the meeting ended McDanials told him: "Don't ever talk about the Patriots like that.",… https://t.co/upmVPszQ5p pic.twitter.com/d4xF2fBhp2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 5, 2023
Following protracted stints with the New England Patriots, where they amassed a combined nine Super Bowl victories (six for McDaniels and three for Ziegler), McDaniels and Ziegler moved to Vegas in 2022. After a 10-win campaign and its first postseason trip in five years, Vegas was taken over by the two.
However, neither Ziegler nor McDaniels was ever able to duplicate the success they had in New England. Both players depart Sin City with a dismal 9-16 record.
Before firing Josh McDaniels, the Raiders had a team meeting where players directed their frustrations at McDaniels, and unloaded on him.
McDaniels had Antonio Pierce speak on his behalf, and Pierce brought up the Giants' '07 team that beat the undefeated Patriots, explaining… pic.twitter.com/Xg0RHaWhmH
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 5, 2023
For McDaniels, this is nothing new; the Denver Broncos dismissed him during the 2010 season. At the time, McDaniels was in his second season as their coach and had an unimpressive 11-17 record when he left the Mile High City.
