New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels has been one of the premier offensive coordinators in the NFL for quite some time. Of course, many would point to the fact that he had Tom Brady at the helm for much of his run with the New England Patriots, but he certainly showed his worth this season with rookie Mac Jones at quarterback.
Despite having a rookie quarterback, the Patriots, under the lead of McDaniels, ranked sixth in the league in scoring offense as the new Raiders coach designed the ideal game plan around his new leader. Along the way, McDaniels helped lead Jones to a Rookie of the Year level campaign and a playoff berth.
Now that McDaniels is heading to the Raiders, Jones had nothing but praise for his former coordinator as he told Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
“He’s a great offensive mind. He does a great job of coaching everybody from the linemen to the skill players,” Jones said. “He deserves the job, and he’s going to do a great job.”
This is McDaniels second crack at being a head coach in the NFL, and he wants to ensure that this run is better than his first one with the Denver Broncos back in 2009 and 2010. McDaniels lasted less than two seasons in Denver but has earned this opportunity in Las Vegas.
Since being named, he has already begun filling out his coaching staff, and one of the names he brought along from New England is Bo Hardegree, who will be the Raiders’ new quarterbacks coach. But, likewise, Jones had all positive things to say about him as well and admitted he wished the Patriots could have kept both coaches:
“I’m really happy for him as well,” Jones said. “He does a great job developing quarterbacks. That’s what he’s done his whole career […] I wish we could keep both of them.”
The Patriots’ loss is the Raiders’ gain as the franchise looks to take the next step in regaining their spot amongst the NFL’s elite. With both McDaniels and Hardegree on hand, the Raiders’ quarterbacks have the chance to learn and grow from some of the best the league has to offer.
