The AFC West underwent two coaching changes this offseason. The Denver Broncos hired Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, which is bad news for the LA Chargers as that increases the likelihood of the nightmare Aaron Rodgers rumor. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Raiders hired New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, which is a move that Charger fans should be celebrating.
Fans of the Las Vegas Raiders seem excited about the move, which might seem to contradict the fact that the Bolts should be happy. Of course Raider fans are going to see the glass-half-full instead of half-empty. From a historical point of view, this hire won't work out for Vegas.
McDaniels has had one other head coaching gig in his career and did it not necessarily go as planned. McDaniels was the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009 and 2010 and was fired after just 12 games of the 2010 season with a 3-9 record.
Despite being an "offensive genius", the 2009 Broncos ranked 20th in the NFL in points scored per game. The team was only 8-8 because it had a decent defense. And let's not forget, that was the year in which the Broncos completely melted down at the end of the season to give the division away to the Chargers. The Broncos were 8-4 and lost four games in a row to miss the playoffs. That team started 6-0 before the bye week and finished the year 2-8. Not great.
Josh McDaniels struggled to beat the LA Chargers as well.
While McDaniels' Broncos did win the first matchup, the Chargers won the next two matchups rather easily. They beat the Broncos 32-3 in the second matchup in 2009 and 35-14 in the first matchup of 2010. He did not make it to a fourth matchup against the Bolts.
Not only were the results bad in Denver but McDaniels was also busted for filming a San Francisco 49ers walkthrough. He could not win football games even though he was cheating to do so!
As an offensive coordinator, McDaniels has been padded by Tom Brady. It has been a common trend in the NFL for Bill Belichick disciples to land head coaching jobs only to fall flat on their face. Just like he did the first time, McDaniels will probably follow in their footsteps.
Matt Patricia? Fired. Joe Judge? Fired. Brian Flores? Surprisingly fired. Bill O'Brien was fired last year after ruining the Houston Texans. Jim Schwartz had a 29-51 record. Eric Mangini had a 33-47 record. Romeo Crennel had a 32-58 record. Nick Saban left for Alabama after failing in the NFL. Al Groh lasted just one season.
The only former Bill Belichick coach that has a playoff win is Bill O'Brien. I get that every coach is different but history tends to repeat itself and the Raiders are looking at two bad examples of history: McDaniels struggling as a head coach and all of his peers struggling as well.
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As a fan of the LA Chargers, I love this hire.