It appears leaving the New England Patriots for greener pastures isn’t the key to happiness, after all.
That’s the case with Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler, at least.
McDaniels and Ziegler, who spent nearly a decade together with the Patriots, were both fired by the Las Vegas Raiders in October following a less-than-stellar run heading up football operations together. It was during that near-two-year stretch that their relationship — which had once been rock solid — slowly devolved into a power struggle.
In a report for Sports Illustrated’s Raiders Today, Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. detailed just how dysfunctional things were in Las Vegas.
“Josh wanted it his way and wouldn’t budge,” Carpenter was told by a league source. “I think you could sum it up that Dave wanted to be a team, but Josh wanted it his way, and I think the ambiguity of the relationship allowed Josh to steamroll him.”
In delving into the specific moves that went wrong for the duo during their time in Las Vegas, it’s clear that McDaniels’ obsession with implementing a culture similar to New England’s not only wasn’t the way to go, but went against what Ziegler believed the Raiders should be.
The Raiders’ decision to bring in Jimmy Garoppolo was pointed to specifically as a move McDaniels pushed for, while Ziegler reportedly wanted to trade up for C.J. Stroud in the 2023 NFL Draft. Ziegler was also reportedly against Las Vegas’ decision to let fullback Alec Ingold walk and bring in former Patriots fullback Jakob Johnson.
“Dave was the opposite (of McDaniels),” Carpenter was told. “Unlike McDaniels, Ziegler had not been close to (Bill) Belichick and wasn’t imbued in all of his thinking. He liked Mark (David) and felt the more Mark was included and involved, the better it would be. He loved it when Davis was around, whereas Josh was uncomfortable.”
There were plenty of other examples given, including a difference in opinion regarding former Patriots coaches that were brought in to join McDaniels’ staff.
In all, the Raiders seemed to be a dysfunctional mess toward the end, with the finger-pointing game quickly coming following the dismissal of Ziegler and McDaniels. Is anyone in New England surprised?
