Report: Josh McDaniels Problems in Vegas Included Being Weirded Out by Mark Davis and Trying to Be Too Much Like Belichick (Again)

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

Over the last couple of weeks, it's been quiet on the Trashing Josh McDaniels front. Too quiet. After a flurry of activity in the first week and a half or so after he got unceremoniously dumped on Halloween night (thus ending the McDaniels kids' Trick or Treating), we got treated to the predictable backstabbing, bad-mouthing, and salacious innuendo from his former players:

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But McDaniels has enjoyed a relatively peacful rest of the month since then. But by no means does that mean he's out of the woods. To the surprise of no one who's seen how these things play out, the quiet has just meant knives were being sharpened. And again they're being plunged into his back. 

A few things about this report. One, is that it's long and seems to be well researched and sourced. Two, that it's hardly not without an agenda. Whoever the sources were, they definitely seem be close to Dave Zeigler, who comes off as White Knighting his way through his entire year and a half as McDaniels' GM. The guy who was right about everything, every time. The infallible Gallant to McDaniels' incompetent Goofus. Keep that in mind as I cherry pick a couple of key things that seemed to make the whole situation for both guys in Las Vegas go tits up:

Source -  “Josh was fearful of getting fired again just like in Denver, and while he liked Mark Davis, the less he had to do with him, the better. Anytime Mark was around, his tension went up,“ was how one NFL source with direct knowledge of the situation told Raiders Today.

The source continued: “Dave was the opposite. Unlike McDaniels, Ziegler had not been close to Belichick and wasn’t imbued in all of his thinking. He liked Mark, he felt the more Mark was included and involved, the better it would be. He loved it when Davis was around, whereas Josh was uncomfortable.“

Ziegler felt it was better to keep Davis in the loop. He judged Davis with the eyes and respect he had for the New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft.

No matter how you describe the dynamic, Ziegler, ever the analyzer, knew that the coaches and leaders who had embraced Davis had the most success. He liked Davis and wanted him close, while Josh liked Davis, but did not want him close.

The source added: “It was never that Josh disliked Mark. I think he lived in fear of getting fired by him, and that tension was felt by anyone close. Mark is a big personality, and Ziegler felt like if he had to ask questions that they had failed, that he should have been told.“

Ultimately, handling Davis was an essential part of the failure of McDaniels’ tenure. …

“The failure in Denver crushed Josh, but to his credit, he changed personally," a league source said. "The problem was that it was almost PTSDish in how he changed. …[W]hat are you afraid of? It made no sense to me."

For Ziegler, it was different. He had no fear of being fired. He understood the mandate Davis gave them and felt being bold and aggressive was the key. Ziegler saw failure in the Patriot Way, while McDaniels saw comfort.

“Ziegler was vocal in New England when he disagreed," another league source with direct knowledge said. "He would respectfully disagree with Belichick (or the stagnated Patriots group think) multiple times, something that wasn’t appreciated. He wasn’t afraid to fail because he was so excited about succeeding. They were opposites, and it drove Dave crazy.“ …

The players liked McDaniels as a person, but they struggled with him as a coach.

After the victory over the New England Patriots on Oct. 15, one player told me: “I am so excited for Josh; that was for Josh.”

That same player told me one day later: “F—k man, this game is a battle; it is brutal. He came in and you couldn’t tell that we had even won. … We are risking our lives with CTE and injuries, and sh-t. This is a kid’s game. Enjoy it. I like Josh, but I don’t think he loves this game. He has no fun.” …

[McDaniels] finally heard that he had to be more personable, but when he finally did, it was too late.

There's a lot more in here I didn't get into. The sources saying things that are easily confirmed, like McDaniels being too committed to signing former Patriots like Jakob Johnson, Chandler Jones, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jarrett Stidham and Jacoby Brissett. But also things we can't, like how Ziegler fought to keep Alec Ingold and how he demanded the Raiders trade up to get CJ Stroud, but McDaniels vetoed him. That kind of shit goes on any time an organization experiences system wide failure. People lay in the weeds waiting to see which draft pick turns out to be good and then emerge to take credit for being right all along. It's the JFK "Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan" dynamic. So I suggest we all take it for what it's worth. 

The big things are how weird McDaniels was around Davis and how, even after the shambles that was his time in Denver, he still couldn't fully shake doing business the way Bill Belichick does. 

The first, I guess I can understand. I'm going to choose my words carefully, because I don't want offend anyone about what is a sensitive subject for most people. I especially don't want to suggest anything about a billionaire who can afford to have me turn up missing many, many times over. But Mark Davis is an odd cat. And we all know that guy who gets awkward and nervous when they're dealing with someone who is … um, different. I could be one of those situations. Or it could be that McDaniels just is not comfortable around authority figures, though he certainly had a close relationship with Mr. Kraft in New England. Maybe like the article suggests, he's still shook by the way it went so bad in Denver and it's still got him gun shy. But I'm going with my theory. 

Second, it's astonishing how many times this history can repeat itself. A former Belichick underling gets hired elsewhere, reminds everyone he is not Belichick, assures the world he is his own man who is going to do things his way, then proceeds to act like a pale imitation of Belichick. No matter how many times it fails, no one seems capable of learning the lesson. In how they make personnel decisions. In how they deal with their players. In their general demeanor. Treating wins like losses is Belichick's signature move, and only one man has ever been able to pull it off. McDaniels is now 0-for-2 at trying. 

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Here's one last line that resonates with me. Because it's all too true:

Davis wasn’t the first NFL owner fooled by the Patriot Way, but he’ll likely be the last.

Now we wait for the next McDaniels hit piece. There's no way the Raiders players, coaches and front office are done with him.