Josh McDaniels was fired from the Las Vegas Raiders this week. Previously, a meeting had accelerated the negative vortex

When a coach leaves the booth, it’s usually the beginning of the end of his tenure. In many cases, the complicated relationship between coach and players is not made public afterwards.

In the case of the Las Vegas Raiders, a report by NFL insider Ian Rapoport shows just how strained the internal relationship between players around Davante Adams, Josh Jacobs and Jakob Johnson on the one hand and former coach Josh McDaniels on the other actually was.

There was a meeting on Thursday before the game against the Detroit Lions (14:26) that was quite something. Players and assistant coaches criticized McDaniels and put things on the table that they felt were going wrong: Overcorrections, long meetings, the way McDaniels tried to hold players accountable and blaming players for play calling problems.

The open and honest meeting was supposed to solve the Raiders’ problems, who were 3-4 at the time. But according to Rapoport, things only got worse. Observers reported that it became apparent during the subsequent practice that the tenure was coming to an end.

McDaniels was “a shadow of his former self”, according to Rapoport. “Sources described McDaniels as far less involved than usual during practice – much like a spectator,” Rapoport continued.

Josh McDaniels: As if he had not been present

According to the report, McDaniels apparently tried to accept and act on the criticism by backing off, “but the contrast in his behavior was so stark that one person present said he felt McDaniels wasn’t really present,” Rapoport said.

Which also explains the quick end on Halloween: owner Mark Davis had not remained idle, he had met with leading players such as Adams or Jacobs for dinner and was in the picture as far as the many problems were concerned.

In the end, Davis had seen enough during the 14:26 in Detroit. He pulled the emergency brake on Halloween night and fired McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. Antonio Pierce took over as interim coach.