Years 2022 and 2023 have been burned into the memory ofLas Vegas Raidersfans. This is partly because of how badly the team fared in those two years, but also because of the disaster that followed in their former head coach, Josh McDaniels' tenure. While passing by the Allegiant Stadium recently, former Raiders safety Jonathan Abram couldn't help but recall some of those bad memories from his time with McDaniels.
"I miss playing inside you," Abram wrote, before going straight at his former head coach. "Josh McDaniels ruined everything we built! He should be arrested for sabotaging the organization and going to NE."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
To understand why it stings so much for Abram, we have to recall where the Raiders actually were before McDaniels showed up. The team entered the 2022 NFL season with serious momentum, finishing 10-7 the previous year. They won four consecutive games to end the regular season, and also made the playoffs under then-interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
Credit: Johnathan Abram/@thejabram
The Silver and Black really liked Bisaccia. But Mark Davis, the team's owner, was not sold on the coach. He then picked McDaniels for the job, who was the long-servingPatriotsoffensive coordinator and had previously been the head coach of theDenver Broncos. Ironically, this one was a failed stint, too.
The Raiders collapsed during McDaniels' tenure. The team dropped to 6-11 in the 2022 season, and the coach was shown the door in 2023. Former general manager Dave Ziegler and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi were also out ofLas Vegas.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
In McDaniels' two seasons with the Raiders, his overall record stood at 9-16. He is now with the New England Patriots as their offensive coordinator, while his former team is in a rebuilding mode. But to be fair, Abram has his own reasons to carry a grudge.
He was the Raiders' first-round pick back in 2019, the 27th overall selection out of Mississippi State, and he spent years as a hard-hitting fixture in that secondary. However, everything was different after McDaniels took over at the helm in Las Vegas.
In April, 2022, the Raiders declined Abram's fifth-year option. But McDaniels sped things up and released the safety midway through the 2022 season. Abram was never able to reach his ceiling again, having posted more than 100 total tackles in 2021. McDaniels also has a long list of failures in Las Vegas.
The HC is known for letting veteran quarterbackDerek Carrleave the Raiders without a replacement in hand. The team also went ahead and drafted defensive endTyree Wilsonin the 2023 NFL Draft when they had the No. 1 pick, and when a talented defensive tackle likeJalen Carterwas available.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Another humiliating fact is that McDaniels was voted the worst coach by the NFL Players Association for the 2023 season. Following his departure,Antonio Pierce was named the interim head coach. The Raiders' locker room felt like it could breathe again.
In Pierce's first game as HC, the Raiders scored more than 20 points for the first time in 2023. After that game, USA Today's Levi Damien wrote that the players celebrated like a party, with cigars and whatnot. He told another reporter, "There's a real 'ding dong the witch is dead' feeling to all this."
The Raiders are now looking for another turnaround under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak. But unlike McDaniels, there's a real air of excitement in Las Vegas about the new coach, who's made some interesting decisions to rebuild this team. Let's see how this one pans out for the Raiders.
