5 candidates Raiders have to look at to replace Josh McDaniels
By John Buhler
And the first domino of the upcoming offseason just dropped. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the Las Vegas Raiders parted ways with former head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. While they had worked previously to great avail in New England, the Raiders are going to Raider, no matter what. This franchise is directionless because of its owner, Mark Davis.
For the second time in his professional career, the former longtime New England Patriots offensive coordinator did not make it through his second season as an NFL head coach. He was ousted a little over a decade ago in Denver for scandalous reasons. Now, he is out in Las Vegas for not being what Davis apparently signed up for. Clearly, the P.F. Chang's did not work, and they must make a change...
Last offseason cycle only saw five NFL franchises make a change at the helm of their organization. Unless you really want to fade Jonathan Gannon in the Valley of the Sun, all five first-year head coaches should be back next season. With that in mind, there could conceivably be upwards of eight jobs opening up by Black Monday. The Raiders may not be the best right now, but it is still one of 32...
Here are five head-coaching candidates the Raiders will need to do some serious homework on.
5. Shane Waldron is ready for his big opportunity this offseason cycle
You cannot overlook what the Seattle Seahawks have been able to do the last few seasons offensively, especially after pivoting off Russell Wilson in favor of his backup, now Pro Bowler, Geno Smith. It may be Pete Carroll's team for now, but you have to wonder how much the Seahawks value having offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in the building. He should be a head coach this February.
Waldron may have gotten some nibbles during his first foray onto the coaching carousel last offseason. However, nobody took the bait. While he could hold out and stay put in the Pacific Northwest, either to be Carroll's eventual successor, or wait for a better job, the Raiders seem like a halfway decent entry point for him. He knows offense and they should be drafting a quarterback high.
Whether the Silver and Black are in a position to draft Caleb Williams out of USC, Drake Maye out of North Carolina, or even someone like J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan, Bo Nix out of Oregon or Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington, I would trust Waldron to get the most out of this young quarterback talent. If he can make chicken salad out of last year's chicken mess with Smith, he can do anything.
This really comes down to what opportunities are available for him, as well as who the new GM will be.