Josh McDaniels’ tenure with the Raiders came to merciful end last week and for the second time in his career, McDaniels was fired in the middle of his second season with the team.
There have been a lot of unflattering storylines around McDaniels during his 21 months with the Raiders, but some of the rumors from his time in Denver made it a remarkable achievement that he was ever hired again as a head coach.
Last week, a former player confirmed several stories about McDaniels from their time together in Denver.
“After trading Cutler, Josh addressed the entire team and said, ‘Fellas, don’t worry about the quarterback situation. I can turn a high school quarterback into an All-Pro.’
That jockstrap in his pocket gave him a false confidence, as did his handle on gaming the system. The league fined him for filming a San Francisco 49ers walk-through practice. The video guy had come in with Josh, replacing the Shanahan-era holdover. Did Josh know this was happening? He says no; judge his credibility for yourself. Either way, it brought shame upon the Broncos organization. Surveillance and skulduggery may be considered “best practice” in New England, but that **** didn’t fly in Denver.
McDaniels’s ego wasn’t only fragile on the field. He famously shipped out running back Peyton Hillis because, rumor had it, McDaniels thought his wife was attracted to Hillis. For those of us accustomed to being handled with class—Shanahan, agree with him or not, could be counted upon for this—Josh’s approach to leadership left much to be desired. Case in point: I found out my Broncos career was over from a message left on my parents’ answering machine. ‘Honey, there’s something I think you need to listen to.’
When I tried to contact Josh for an explanation, his secretary told me he was in a meeting and that he’d call me back. He never did.”
Some have said that McDaniels never actually made the comment about turning a high school quarterback into an All-Pro, but evidently, it’s true.
Going forward, McDaniels might be better known as a head coach who turned good NFL quarterbacks into high school-level quarterbacks.
As for the personal stuff, that’s a subject matter better left to be talked about somewhere else.
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