Raiders look to Pats for GM and coach
The Las Vegas Raiders are trying to build their team the Patriot Way.
Owner Mark Davis tapped the NFL’s most successful franchise over the past two decades by hiring Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler as his general manager. Davis is closing in on a deal to make New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels the head coach in Las Vegas.
The Raiders announced Sunday they had hired Ziegler to replace the fired Mike Mayock. A person familiar with the search says they are finalizing a deal with McDaniels to make him head coach to fill the void created when Jon Gruden resigned in October. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t made an announcement.
Davis interviewed several candidates for both positions before picking two with a long history of working together. They were college teammates at John Carroll, and McDaniels brought Ziegler with him to Denver in his first head-coaching stint.
The two have worked together in New England the past nine seasons, McDaniels as offensive coordinator and Ziegler working his way up through the scouting department before being promoted to director of player personnel in 2021.
The two take over a team coming off just its second playoff berth in the past 19 seasons. Las Vegas won its final four games of the regular season to qualify as a wild card before losing at Cincinnati.
Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia guided the team through a difficult season after Gruden resigned in October following the release of his old, offensive emails. Receiver Henry Ruggs III was released in November after being charged with DUI felonies following a crash that killed a 23-year-old woman.
Bisaccia’s work earned him his players’ support, but Davis went in a different direction.
McDaniels is viewed as one of the brighter offensive minds in the game with his many years working with Tom Brady on the Patriots and his work this season helping to develop rookie QB Mac Jones.
But his first experience as head coach fell apart quickly following a 6-0 start in 2009 after he traded quarterback Jay Cutler in one of his first moves. Denver finished 8-8 that season and McDaniels was fired with a 3-9 record in 2010.
Waiting on Brady: While the NFL conference championship games went on without Brady for the second time in 11 years, the world waits for perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time to make his plans official.
An announcement on whether Brady, 44, will retire is expected soon and a person close to Brady said his decision will be based on family priorities, not finances. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because he wasn’t authorized to speak on Brady’s behalf.
Brady has stated a desire to spend more time with his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and their three children. Bears’ moves: The Bears hired Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator, raiding the staff of Green Bay to find the assistant they believe is best suited to install a successful scheme for QB Justin Fields. Getsy spent the past two seasons as the quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. New Chicago general manager Ryan Poles announced Saturday that Ian Cunningham had been hired as his assistant GM. Cunningham was the director of player personnel for the Eagles.