The Raiders have a new man in charge of the organization and that is Josh McDaniels. He has not been a head coach in the NFL for over a decade, but the Raiders are confident he is the right man for the job.
But make no mistake about it; he is under a ton of pressure this year. After trading their top two picks for All-Pro receiver Davante Adams and signing Chandler Jones to a monster contract, the expectation is that this team is a Super Bowl contender. Now.
In a recent article by Bill Barnwell of ESPN, he named 20 players and coaches under the most pressure heading into the 2022 season. That list included McDaniels, who will try to get the Raiders back into the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Here is a snippet of Barnwell’s thoughts on the new head coach for the Raiders:
“What McDaniels does with the Raiders will define his legacy. Win and he could become the next (Mike) Shanahan or Bill Belichick as the young star coordinator who matured and built a dynasty in his second job. If he flounders or flames out, he’ll forever be the coach who couldn’t do it without Belichick leading the way.
Las Vegas hasn’t been quite as prone to drastic moves after Al Davis’ death, but Mark Davis once fired Jack del Rio one year after a 12-4 season. Everything is always on the table for the Raiders.”
The Raiders aren’t going to fire McDaniels after one season. That’s just not going to happen, no matter how poorly the year goes for the team. However, there is a sense of urgency here as the Raiders are in a Super Bowl window. If it doesn’t happen this year or in 2023, McDaniels could be out of the AFC West sooner rather than later.