The Raiders have fired special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, per a team announcement.
Assistant special teams coach Derius Swinton II will take over the interim job. He previously was the special teams coordinator for the 49ers in 2016 and the Chargers in 2021.
McMahon arrived in Las Vegas in 2022 under new head coach Josh McDaniels. McDaniels was fired midway through his second season, but McMahon retained his job under Antonio Pierce. He also stayed on when Pete Carroll arrived in Las Vegas this offseason, but the Raiders’ special teams woes this season forced a change. Carroll and McMahon were seen exchanging words at the end of Thursday night’s loss to the Broncos, which included multiple special teams gaffes.
The Raiders’ 44.1 overall special teams grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) is the worst in the league, and their 35.2 net yards per punt ranks second-lowest, indicating poor punt coverage. The Raiders also have 24 missed tackles and 19 penalties on special teams this season, per PFF.
Las Vegas’ special teams units have also struggled in key moments. In Week 4, the Bears blocked a would-be game-winning field goal at the end of regulation, and in Week 9, the Raiders allowed a 54-yard kickoff that set up the Jaguars’ game-winning touchdown in overtime. This firing also comes after the Broncos blocked a punt deep in Raiders territory, giving the hosts a short field ahead of what turned into a game-winning field goal in a 10-7 victory.
McMahon, 56, began his coaching career at the college level in 1992 before jumping to the pros in 2007 as the Falcons’ assistant special teams coach. He was hired by the Rams as their special teams coordinator in 2009 and later held the same job for the Chiefs (2012), Colts (2013-2017) and Broncos (2018-2021).
so he’s gonna get a job w/ pat mcafee now
He should have stuck with wrestling.
Now if they could only fire every single other employee of the franchise and start fresh with a bunch of 10 year olds they might make some progress.
Wow. Yet Chip Kelly gets to keep his $6 million a year job. Stay hot, Raiders. Stay hot…
I know I shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but it’s wild that between the Gruden, McDaniels, and AP debacles, this is still an even lower point for the franchise.
I know that Kelly doesn’t have much to work with, but some of those edge pressures in that game would make you at least try to chip those rushers. I get it, he’s dealing with two of the top three get-offs in the league with Cooper and Bonitto, but a ton of those pressures came on single blocks. All things considered, Forsythe actually did better than expected as a backup tackle one-on-one with Bonitto. Bonitto could have ended up with six sacks that night.
Even if Kelly is fired, though, that team is just in shambles right now. Smith is obviously not a long term guy, but he needs options to get the ball out quickly. It feels to me like the Raiders missed a great opportunity by not trading Mayer this year, considering how much help they really need. I know that Bowers is a worse blocker, hence the value of Mayer in the run game, but they have a ton of needs and Mayer could get them a decent pick as a good two way TE.
As for the subject of the article…the special coordinator is always the first to go to appease the crowds, but after that block, it’s easy to see why he was let go. The players weren’t playing their assignments on more than one occasion. Perhaps that’s a problem with the locker room, but it’s the coordinator’s responsibility overall, needless to say. A lot of these guys won’t be there next year, in all likelihood. Cole is a good punter; the coverage hasn’t been as good as his kicking.
If you can’t figure out how to cover an AJ Cole punt then you can’t figure out anything
They’ll go undefeated now.
FREE MAX CROSBY!
Max chose to sign w/ the raiders. Just like Myles did w/ the browns. They can have their money & misery at the same time.
Unclemike is trying to convince Stills, Nash & Young to host a concert and raise the ransom money 🙂
I thought Goodell and his tin hat minions were trying to eliminate special teams play from the game completely.