Mike McDaniel was scheduled to interview for the Bills’ head coaching vacancy on Friday, but he decided to withdraw from consideration before the two sides met, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
McDaniel, 42, has interviewed for several head coach and offensive coordinator jobs in the last few weeks. In backing out of his interview with the Bills, he has narrowed his options down to the Chargers and the Raiders. The Chargers are planning to hire McDaniel as their next offensive coordinator, unless the Raiders do not offer their head coaching job to him. McDaniel has only met with Las Vegas’ top brass once, but the interview did take place in person.
Early in the hiring cycle, McDaniel reportedly preferred an offensive coordinator opportunity with a stronger team rather than a head coaching job with a weaker one. After the Bills fired Sean McDermott, Buffalo immediately became one of the top destinations for potential head coaches, making it somewhat of a surprise that McDaniel backed out of the running. Perhaps he believed that the job would ultimately go to another candidate and preferred to focus his attention on his remaining suitors.
The Raiders, however, do not seem like a particularly desirable destination unless McDaniel is committed to a major rebuild of a roster that lacks many long-term pieces. Working with projected No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza – along with the rest of the team’s significant draft capital and future cap space – could be enticing, but the Raiders have been stuck in the mud for years. If McDaniel is looking to make his next head coaching opportunity stick, he might continue to wait out the market until the right job comes along in the next few offseason.
In the meantime, the Chargers’ OC gig is a solid opportunity for McDaniel to work with Justin Herbert, who has played under a revolving door of suboptimal offensive architects and play-callers in his career. McDaniel could finally allow Herbert to thrive within the Chargers’ offense rather than in spite of it.
So basically he’s not in a hurry to return to Miami and a chorus of boos 🙂
Oh no. Dont go…
He’s going to Vegas to fail with Mendoza. Perfect.
“ The Chargers are planning to hire McDaniel as their next offensive coordinator, unless the Raiders do not offer their head coaching job to him”
🤔
So if the Raiders DO offer him their HC job the chargers will hire him as OC? Got it. (Hey maybe this makes sense, nothing should drive a guy away from a job more than it being the raiders!)
Proofreading is a lost art.
It’s all done by software programs now and those programs really don’t mind being insulted.
In fact, engagement clicks to matter to them. So it’s doing what it intended out of this outcome.
McDaniel in effect excepted the Chargers OC position but is now trying to become a HC, yet withdraws yet AGAIN from an interview 🤔 something is going on with this guy….maybe take a year off ? Strange
Definitely shouldn’t have excepted unless he was sure he would take the job. I’ll make an acception if there’s unknown factors.
Probably doesn’t want to gamble what might he his last NFL head coaching opportunity leading a team in win-or-else mode under such a volatile and reactionary ownership
Its not that rare. SEE: Brian Flores re-signed as DC in MIN, as a “free agent” coach who’s contract had ended…UNLESS he gets offered a HC job.
In-Demand assistant coaches have leverage because quality schematic minds are always a hot commodity in the do-or-die world of NFL. Its smart for a team (LAC, MIN) to lock in their #1 target even at risk of losing him to a HC gig. If it happens then they move on to their 2nd, or 3rd, or whatevr choices, which they would have done anyway had they not decided on the #1 guy.
For the coach it’s obviously smart to ensure he will get his preferred coordinator spot if he’s unable to get a HC position he feels is unquestionably better.
Its smart for both coach and team IMO
Not sure that Buffalo situation is all it’s cracked up to be, whacky owner, crappy GM and a lacking roster. However, they have amazing fans and …. Superman!!
I do not believe he wants to coach in a cold weather city. Believe he likes coastal cities or warmer weather cities
Missed this before I posted, but I said they exact same thing.
Too cold in Buffalo. He’s a warm weather guy.
He grew up in Colorado, don’t think coaches care too much about climates. Only 30 head coaching jobs and Buffalo should be much more appealing than almost any other one.
Have you not seen him during cold weather games? lol. Dude looks miserable. Why else would he choose being LA’s OC or Vegas’ HC over Buffalo?
Money. Chance to succeed. Both are vastly superior reasons than being chilly a few hours per week. Vegas is a death sentence for a coach, can see him staying as OC for LA. He likely realizes or feels he isn’t a top choice in Buffalo if pulling out.
Players sign in warm weather places all the time because they prefer it to the cold. It’s not like this would be some new phenomenon.
For a coach, yea, I’d say it’s an off the wall reason. Head coaching offers you typically take, it isn’t apples to apples to some free agents who have a choice.
It’s not like he’s never had a head coach job, though. He got fired days ago. Another choice that isn’t completely unheard of is deciding not to take a second head coach job. If McDaniel had never done it before, sure, it would seem ridiculous, but not really when he’s clearly in-demand for various roles.
Raiders aren’t that bad of a death sentence if you know how to build a roster and develop a QB. I’d trust MacDaniel to coordinate my offense but not build a roster or be a HC. Tua regressed without Tyreek, which says a lot about MacDaniel. He’s better off sticking with the Chargers OC jon under a strong HC.
Most coaches are probably better off as coordinators or position coaches. The Peter principle is alive and well with NFL head coaches.
It isn’t easy to predict. No one knew if Andy Reid would be a good HC, or ST coach John Harbaugh, even Sean McVay.
Maybe the owner shouldn’t throw the head coach with a .650 win percentage under the bus after he fired him?
🛎️🛎️🛎️
Sounds like if he’s not good enough to be the Raiders HC the Chargers don’t want him as their OC. Probably a good litmus test.
If I were the Chargers,I would give him a deadline of tomorrow. Either sign the contract to be our offensive coordinator tomorrow or we’ll start looking for somebody else. If they wait for him to decide on whether he wants the Raiders job or not other good coaches might be off the market.
By tomorrow night two more sets of coaches will be ready for interviews.
Thank god you’re just a keyboard dork
He was reminded that Buffalo weather was not hot like the chicken wings, but often cold, snowy and windy.
Nobody wants the job in Buffalo, and rightfully so.
LOL, he’s a warm weather soft coach. His chances of landing the buffalo job were nil with Josh Allen getting a say in the hiring process.
@Sherminator- I doubt his chances were nil considering his OC success with an inferior QB, especially given Buffalo’s underwhelming options.
OK, maybe 1%? They were not going to hire a coach that was just fired from a division rival. He pulled himself out before they could reject him
Yeah because that’s never happened before.
After the owner’s responses and stepping over the GM, I agree Buffalo is now behind Cleveland and Vegas.
Seems like the best young coaching prospects are still available. Bills appear to be waiting for Seattle’s season to end, though everyone is allowed to interview this week (coaches with Super Bowl teams can do virtual interviews through Feb 1st).
But they’re still the worst batch of the last 5 or so years. And if the word that Klint Kubiak doesn’t really have head coach juice is true, then who are they waiting on, Shula? Seems overrated to me.
Worst batch? According to who? Seems like a better than average group of offensive-minded coaches, though there are more openings than normal to fill.
According to pretty much everyone. You’re definitely in the minority with that opinion.
So suboptimal offensive architecture is what we are now blaming it on?
I think super bowl bill BELICHECK would be a great fit let him coach and have nothing with drafting players,JUST COACH. HE has more coaching expierence with the remaining coaches left. He won 6 SB how many would they won without him. HE IS A GENIUS
He likes the warm weather, I’m sure he saw the snow in Buffalo and said fnck it
Might be he pulled out of Buffalo because of the GM & Owners recent mishmash of a season ending press meeting, trashing players and coach.
With enuff people mentioning the GMs drafts not providing the team with the right choices could also impact hires if the ‘scouting structure’ and their input isn’t a favorable attribute.
They need a flashy (Not Good, but Flashy) coach to open their new stadium. When will we hear of Prime interviewing for the job?
I wonder if OCs interviewing for the Raiders HC job ask whether or not the Raiders intend on trading Mendoza? If my forte was being a QB-whisperer, I’d think long and hard if I wanted the Raider coach if they trade away the #1, and then start drafting defensive players.
You wouldn’t want to work with Geno?