McDaniels says he's learned from Broncos stint: 'I didn't really know people'
Josh McDaniels said Monday he'll be a different coach for the Las Vegas Raiders than he was when he flamed out with the Denver Broncos over a decade ago.
"When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit of football - I didn't really know people and how important that aspect of this process and maintaining the culture and building the team was," McDaniels told reporters. "I failed, I didn't succeed at it. Looking at that experience has been one of the best things in my life in terms of my overall growth as a person, as a coach."
The Raiders introduced McDaniels as the 22nd head coach in franchise history, giving him his long-awaited second chance. He coached the Broncos from 2009-10, ruffling feathers almost immediately by dangling quarterback Jay Cutler in trade talks. McDaniels lost 17 of his final 22 games before being fired.
The 45-year-old, who served as the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator before going to the Broncos, returned to Bill Belichick's staff in 2012 after a brief stint with the St. Louis Rams. He won three Super Bowls with the Patriots in his second stint with the franchise.
"The last 10-12 years, I've really had an opportunity to grow as a person, as a coach, as a man, and try to figure out after my experiences in Denver and St. Louis who I am, how I wanted to be defined in my career, what I wanted to represent, and how I would lead the next time if I got another opportunity to be a head coach," he said. "It's crystallized for me. I'm clear in the vision that I have for this role, for this job, for this team, and I'm gonna be myself."
McDaniels interviewed for numerous head coaching jobs across the NFL in recent years, but he never seemed eager to leave New England. He took the Indianapolis Colts' job in 2018 but backed out before the introductory press conference.
"I've been patient, I've been selective - maybe to a fault sometimes, people wanted me to do things a little earlier than maybe I did them - but it was gonna take a special place for me to really leave where I was, and I found that here in Las Vegas," he said.
McDaniels will inherit a team that went 10-7 in 2021 and is coming off its second playoff appearance of the last 19 seasons. He'll take over along with new general manager Dave Ziegler, who also comes to the Raiders by way of the Patriots.
Ziegler, who was unveiled before McDaniels, said he'll have the final say over player personnel decisions but noted he and McDaniels share a vision for building the roster.
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