Was Josh McDaniels the most hated Raiders coach ever?
A highly unscientific listing of the most hated head coaches in Raiders history
It’s been a few days now since the Raiders won a football game and I can’t stop thinking about the reaction of the team.
The Raiders lit cigars in their victorious locker room. It was not casual or chill. They danced to loud rap music and mugged for cameras while smoking. They smoked the cigars while answering questions from reporters, and gleefully posted videos of themselves on social media.
Keep in mind, the Raiders simply won a game. They didn’t clinch anything. In fact, the victory improved their record to 4-5. They are still a losing team with a very long shot of reaching the playoffs. They defeated a team, the New York Giants, that lost its starting quarterback during the game and is now 2-7 for the season.
The celebration wasn’t just because they won a football game.
It was because their head coach, Josh McDaniels was fired earlier in the week.
I’ve seen, and read, a lot of instances where a head coach gets fired midseason. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed players so blatantly expressing how thrilled they are. The level of hatred inside the locker room toward now former head coach Josh McDaniels is truly astonishing.
The celebration permeated Raider Nation. Before the game, as owner Mark Davis walked the field at Allegiant Stadium, Raiders fans chanted “thank you, Mark” for his decision. Fans blaming a head coach, and celebrating when that coach gets fired, is nothing new. That happens everywhere and it’s happened a lot with the Raiders over the last three decades. But it got me thinking about McDaniels legacy with the Raiders.
Is Josh McDaniels the most hated Raiders head coach ever?
Recency bias clouds our judgment. But I really do think Josh McDaniels is the most hated coach in Raiders history. Here’s my quick rankings.
Josh McDaniels (6-11 in 2022, then 3-5 in 2023). Let’s start that he came from the Patriots and Raiders fans hate the Patriots. Fans knew McDaniels failed miserably as the Denver Broncos head coach. His reputation was an offensive genius, but I’d look like a genius if Tom Brady was my quarterback and Bill Belichick was running the defense and the overall team. Even if McDaniels does understand X’s and O’s really well, he just doesn’t have the dynamic type of personality that excites players or fans.
Even putting away his “I’m the smartest person in the room” personality, his late-game decision making was atrocious for kicking field goals vs going for it. Last year, he lost to the Colts after they’d hired Jeff Saturday off the street. Then they lost to the Rams after they had just signed Baker Mayfield off the street to play quarterback and he didn’t even know their plays yet. Whatever hatred the Raiders fans felt toward him, the players clearly hated him more. With every story that has since come out, that’s only to intensify the most-portem hatred.
Mike Shanahan (7-9 in 1988, then 1-3 in 1989). The hate for Shanahan was real at the time, but I think the extra degree of hate is more revisionist history now. Shanahan came from the hated Denver Broncos, where he was offensive coordinator, and that was significant because it was the first time Al Davis went outside the Raider Family. Shanahan replaced Tom Flores, who won two Super Bowls, and he had an offense with Marcus Allen *and* Bo Jackson (after baseball season ended), and Tim Brown. Shanahan went 7-9 his first year, then was fired after a 1-3 start his second year. The team rallied around Art Shell, winning four of its next five games and getting Shell the permanent job. But, no, they didn’t light victory cigars after Shanahan left. Shanahan then returned to the Broncos, as head coach this time, won two Super Bowls, beat the Raiders a lot, and publicly feuded with Al Davis. I think Al still owes him $250,000.
Lane Kiffin (5-11 in 2007, then fired after a 1-3 start in 2008). At the introductory news conference, Al called him “Lance” instead of “Lane” and Raiders fans knew this was doomed. Al interviewed USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian first. Kiffin came to the interview because he was going to be the Sark’s offensive coordinator. Sark turned down the job, then Lane got the next interview. Kiffin already knew the questions to the test and passed it. Kiffin was 32 years old when he got the job, even younger than Gruden (who was 35), and very much lived up to the perception of a silver spooned brat who got all his coaching jobs because his dad was a longtime respected coach.
Dennis Allen (4-12 in 2012 and 2013, then 0-4 in 2014). The three coaches listed above were all fired during or after their second season. The fact that Allen even got to start a third season increases the hatred toward him. Unlike Shanahan and Kiffin, Allen can’t even claim that Al was getting in his way because Al had passed away by then. If Al was still alive, Allen would definitely have been gone after the second year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark was thinking about how he waited too long to get rid of Allen when he made the decision on McDaniels.
Bill Callahan (11-5 in 2002, 4-12 in 2003). I didn’t want to put him on this list. Honest. Callahan took the Raiders to their most recent Super Bowl. Even if it was Jon Gruden’s team, that has to count for something, right? But in his second (and final) year, Callahan led to the team to a 4-12 record and infamously said at a press conference, “we’ve got to be the dumbest team in America.” I remember that game. I attended the game. It rained. The walk across the BART bridge was the most miserable BART walk of my life. Dumb penalties were the reason for the quote, but a big part of your job as head coach in instilling discipline to avoid penalties. It’s true that Rich Gannon got hurt that season, but the team was already 2-5 and both wins were by a field goal. A lot has gone public the last few years about Callahan the week of the Super Bowl, and while I don’t believe some of the most extreme positions that he sabotaged the team on purpose – I mean, come on, really? -- it’s definitely weird. Taking the team to a Super Bowl prevents me from putting him higher, but a 4-12 collapse that set the tone for the last two decades of mediocrity warrants inclusion.
For a different perspective, I texted five people who follow the Raiders extremely well for their rankings. The speed in which they texted me back was really impressive. So was the nicknames they used for the departed for the coaches.
Person #1 (who added comments)
1 - Shanahan (insubordination)
2 - Kiffin (entitled brat)
3 - Mcdaniels (total asshole)
4 - Bugel - (clueless)
5 - Hue (liar and lack of any discipline)
Person #2
1 - Fraud McSuckiels
2 - Lance
3 - Callahan
4 - Shanahan
5 - Bugel
Person #3
1 - McDaniels
2 - Allen
3 - Lane
4 - Bugel
5 - Shanahan
Person #4
1 - Lance
2 - Bugel
3 - Dennis Allen
4 - Josh McDaniels
5 - Shanarat
It really is hilarious how many people still refer to Kiffin as “Lance.”
Out of the five of us, McDaniels, Shanahan and Kiffin were the only coaches to get votes from everyone. If you assign 5 points for most hated, and 1 point for the fifth spot, the rankings look like this:
McDaniels 20 points
Kiffin 19 points
Shanahan 13 points
Allen 9 points
Bugel 9 points
Callahan 4 points
Jackson 1 point
“Clueless” Joe Bugel, as fans and the media called him, was one-and-done after a 4-12 record that, at the time, was the Raiders worst in 35 years. He wasn’t around long enough to hate and his firing led to Jon Gruden. Remember, Al nearly hired Jon Gruden a year earlier, but decided on the experience of Bugel instead. Al probably regretted that he waited a year to hire Gruden.
Hue Jackson was the head coach when Al Davis died and I thought he rallied the team during a very emotional time. It wasn’t immediately clear how Mark was going to run the team. Hue was in charge. He made the disastrous decision of trading two first-round picks for quarterback Carson Palmer. Hey, Hue was trying to win for Al. I coulda sworn Hue got one more year, but no, he was done after an 8-8 season, and that looks much better when the replacement was Dennis Allen. Hue sure loved him some Hue, didn’t he?
Initially, I had Mike White (8-8 in 1995, 7-9 in 1996) on my list at five. But I can’t put White in the rankings because of two reasons.
He was head coach when the Raiders returned to Oakland, started the season 8-2, the Coli was packed and rocking, and oh man, it was a fabulous time to be a Raider fan in the Bay.
The poor dude got fired on Christmas Eve. I also feel bad for the reporters who had to interrupt their family time to chase down the story and file.
Art Shell is Raiders Royalty. You can’t hate on Big Art. He was an offensive lineman on three Super Bowl teams and his first tenure as head coach was fun. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t include that when Shell was re-hired for the second time, he hired Tom Walsh to be his offensive coordinator.
Not Bill Walsh, but Tom Walsh. No, Tom was not related to Bill. Tom was an assistant coach under Shell in the first era, then left football entirely. Tom was re-hired, after a SEVEN-YEAR ABSENCE from coaching, in which he … I swear to you, I’m not making this up … ran a “bed and breakfast” and was also the mayor of Swan Valley, Idaho.
So those are my rankings and the very unscientific rankings of the Raiders fans I know best.
What are your rankings?
I completely forgot about Mike White. That first season back in Oakland started hot. Went to Jeff Jaeger's family's bar near Seattle with Dave and Vince to watch a game and that place was rocking. Then the bottom fell out.