Raiders owner Mark Davis has been caught in a spat with fans calling for the firing of Josh McDaniels as head coach, during Week 4’s loss to the Chargers in Los Angeles.
Extraordinary footage from Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium shows several fans of the Men in Black raiding Davis’ suite and ranting over the need to dismiss McDaniels. The latter is in his second-year coaching Las Vegas.
‘Fire him! Fire his ass!’ pleaded a chorus of disgruntled Raiders fans. ‘Fire him Mark!’
Most NFL owners would have sat back and ignored the noise, but Davis wasn’t going to let fans have their say.
‘Smarten up!’ he furiously yelled at them, without elaborating on McDaniels’ qualities that make him so sure that he’s right man to change the Raiders’ fortune around with 13 games to go this season.
Raiders owner Mark Davis engaged with fans calling for the firing of coach Josh McDaniels
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels has lost half of his games since coming to Las Vegas in ’22
Fans didn’t come an agreement with their team’s owner, yelling once again at Davis to fire McDaniels. Davis responded by putting his index finger to the side of his hand and telling them to ponder what he has just told them.
The Raiders have had a slow start to the year with a 1-3 record and are coming off a disappointing 2022-23 season as they finished third of the AFC West (6-11), missing out on the playoffs yet again.
Drama is nothing new for this organization, which has long prided itself on its outlaw image. That was fine 20 or so years ago when the franchise was often a Super Bowl contender, and collecting three Vince Lombardi Trophies helped justify that approach.
But the Raiders have made the playoffs only twice since 2003, and the negative headlines suggest an organization in extreme disfunction.
Raiders fans are a proud and rebellious bunch but have only made the playoffs twice since ’03
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a concussion in a 23-18 loss to the Steelers last month
McDaniels had hoped to change the tenor and bring the Patriots’ success with him from when he was the offensive coordinator in New England.
A quarter of the way through his second season in Las Vegas, however, McDaniels is 7-14 and has made decisions inside the 10-yard line during the past two games that have backfired.
The Raiders (1-3) likely will play in front of another hostile crowd at home on Monday night when the Green Bay Packers pack out Allegiant Stadium.
Especially if the Raiders lose in a standalone game. Whoever’s playing quarterback if Jimmy Garoppolo is definitely out has to go to a silent count, it will be another sign of how far the organization has fallen.
Garoppolo, who was injured September 24 against Pittsburgh, remains in the concussion protocol. McDaniels said he didn’t have an update on CB Nate Hobbs, who didn’t play at Los Angeles because of an ankle injury.
