The owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Mark Davis, shocked sports fans when he announced both the team’s head coach Josh McDaniels and General Manager Dave Ziegler had been fired following the Raiders embarrassing loss Monday night to the Lions, 26-14.
A Tuesday night statement from Davis posted on the official X account for the Raiders’ team read that the Raiders have relieved McDaniels and Ziegler of their duties.
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 1, 2023
“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” Davis’ statement said. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”
When reached for further comment about the firing, Davis said, “No comment at this time,” ESPN reported.
The Raiders also reportedly fired offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi, sources told the outlet.
On Wednesday, the Raiders announced that former NFL player/Raiders linebackers coach Antonio Pierce would fill in as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season. The team also named current assistant general manager Champ Kelly as interim GM.
Earlier this season, fans were calling for McDaniels to be fired after the Las Vegas team fell to a 1-3 record, CBS Sports noted. The calls seemed to quiet down once the Raiders were able to rack up two weeks of back-to-back victories, first a 17-13 victory against the Packers in Week 5 and a 21-17 win over the Patriots in Week 6.
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However, the Raiders got embarrassed in Week 7 when the Bears beat them handily 30-12, and that was followed up under the big lights on Monday Night Football when the team fell to a 26-14 victory by Detroit, CBS noted.
Going into Week 9, the Raiders sit at 3-5 with Jimmy Garappalo as their quarterback — who isn’t playing as well as expected. He took over the top job last year when the team moved away from QB Derek Carr, who had started for nine seasons with the team, after Carr was benched and made inactive for the final two weeks of the 2022 season.
A big question for many Raiders fans this season has been why the teams’ all-pro wide receiver Davante Adams wasn’t getting the ball in his hands. Adams is the biggest playmaker for the team and he had one catch for 11 yards in the Detroit game and has not caught a touchdown pass since Week 3, ESPN noted.