Raiders may not give up on 'Patriot Way' with latest coaching search update

The Las Vegas Raiders were the first team in the 2023 season to fire their head coach. After less than two years on the job, head coach Josh McDaniels was fired, along with general manager Dave Ziegler. McDaniels' is the latest member of the Belichick coaching tree to not pan out. McDaniels' second coaching opportunity saw the Raiders' locker room turn against him, and a Week 8 loss to the Detroit Lions solidified his exit.

While the momentum is currently with interim head coach Antonio Pierce, as evident by numerous players like Davante Adams backing him to get the permanent job, the Raiders are still going to have a coaching search. And a recent report indicates that they are hoping to get a meeting with one potential candidate in particular.

According to The Athletic's senior NFL insider Dianna Russini, the Raiders are hoping to get a meeting with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. This comes with Belichick's status with the Patriots still unclear

Raiders 'hoping' to get a meeting with Bill Belichick

Belichick's former assistants didn't exactly pan out when they received head coaching opportunities. When said ex-assistant coaches tried to implement the "Patriot Way" in different organizations, it didn't work. But how about bringing in the coach who implemented it in Belichick?

The Patriots are 4-12 entering the final week of the 2023 regular season. As the team struggled to pick up wins, Belichick's status with the Patriots got much murkier. After all, the Patriots haven't had much success since quarterback Tom Brady left in 2020. The Patriots had just one season with a winning record and zero playoff wins since.

Russini reports that Belichick is expected to meet with owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft next week, and that some of those who work for the Patriots and expect there to be changes this offseason "put out feelers about jobs elsewhere."

Since taking over for McDaniels, Pierce has gone 4-4 on the season. One of those victories was a massive win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, leading to speculation that the momentum was behind Pierce to land the permanent gig. In fact, Adams publicly endorsed Pierce to become the head coach.

With the locker room firmly behind Pierce, much like they were with Rich Bisaccia when he took over for Jon Gruden during the 2021 season, would Davis again go against player preference? It's extremely rare for a candidate who won six Super Bowls as a head coach to become available like Belichick. Let's be real, every NFL team that will have a head coaching vacancy will at least try to meet with Belichick to gauge his interest.