NFL Team Fires Head Coach and General Manager After Slow Start to Season

An NFL team just made some big changes halfway through the 2023 season. On Tuesday night, the Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager David Ziegler. The decision was made after the Raiders lost to the Detroit Lions 26-14 on Monday night to drop to 3-5 on the year. 

“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave. I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement. ESPN contacted Davis to elaborate on the firings of McDaniels and Ziegler, but he said, “No comment at this time.”

The Raiders named linebackers coach Antonio Pierce as their interim head coach. The team also said assistant general manager Champ Kelly will serve as interim general manager. The Raiders will search for a new head coach and general manager once the season ends. 

McDaniels and Ziegler were both hired by the Raiders in January 2022. They took over a team that finished 10-7 and reached the playoffs in 2021 with interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and then-general manager Mike Mayock. Bisaccoa took over for Jon Gruden who resigned during the season. McDaniels and Ziegler did not have a memorable run with the Raiders as the team went 9-16 without a playoff appearance. McDaniels finished his tenure with the third-worst record of any Raiders coach with at least 25 games. 

This was the second time McDaniels, 47, was a head coach of an NFL team. He was the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009 but was fired 12 games into the 2010 season. In his head coaching career, McDaniels posted a 20-33 record and has not reached the playoffs. 

The Raiders hoped that McDaniels would be an offensive firepower since he won three Super Bowls as an offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. But the Raiders could never find consistency on offense as they are currently ranked No. 31 in total offense in the league, No. 32 in rushing yards per game (70) and No. 30 in points per game (15.8). 

Pierce, 45, will be with the eighth different head coach for the Raiders since Davis took over for his father, Al Davis, in Oct. 2011. He was hired by the Raiders in 2022 after spending four years as an assistant coach at Arizona State. Pierce played linebacker in the NFL from 2001 to 2009 and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2007.