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Update:
FOX’s Jay Glazer confirmed the meeting ripping Josh McDaniels took place and added that at one point Antonio Pierce spoke up about the 2007 Patriots – after the meeting ended, despite everyone else being happy with it, McDaniels told Pierce: “Don’t ever talk about the Patriots like that.”
Glazer also said that Pierce has a legit shot at keeping the head coaching job long-term if he proves himself.
"There was this big airing of the grievance meeting and players just unloaded on Josh McDaniels." @JayGlazer has the Inside Scoop on the Raiders' pic.twitter.com/pGx0ixwoVd
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 5, 2023
Original Story:
Raiders players and even assistant coaches ripped into now former head coach Josh McDaniels in a team meeting held just days before his last game against the Lions.
According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, the meeting appeared to take a toll on McDaniels, leaving him a “shell of himself.”
The practice session that followed the intense meeting was different from any other in the McDaniels’ tenure. Sources revealed to Rapoport that he seemed far less involved than usual, almost like a bystander.
McDaniels allowed plays to unfold without interference, hoping players would self-correct and avoided from stepping in to address mistakes, which wasn’t his usual approach to practices.
During the meeting, players and coaches didn’t hold back in their critique of McDaniels and “ripped into him.”
The purpose of the gathering was to be brutally honest and address issues plaguing the then-3-4 Raiders, including overcorrection, lengthy meetings, McDaniels’ methods of holding players accountable, and his tendency to blame them for play-calling issues.
The impact of the meeting on McDaniels was clearly negative as he seemed distant from the team afterwards.
It seemed that during Thursday’s practice, he made an effort to listen to the players, avoided overcoaching, played some music, and allowed things to unfold as they would.
McDaniels appeared to be attempting to heed the players’ requests, but the contrast in his behavior was “so stark” that one observer felt he wasn’t fully present.
Five days after all that, and the 26-14 loss to the Lions, Josh McDaniels was fired as head coach, with owner Mark Davis having to pay nearly $85 million to move on from him and members of the staff.