Josh McDaniels, like Bill Belichick, prove they are nothing without Tom Brady
Josh McDaniels was recently fired as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, perhaps proving that he is not that great of a coach when not with QB Tom Brady. The level of Brady's greatness truly cannot be measured. Not only did he elevate a ton of below-average offensive players, but he also made some of his coaches look better, including Bill Belichick.
Belichick has a losing record in the NFL as a head coach when he hasn't been with Tom Brady, and in the fourth season removed from Brady leaving the team after 2019, the Patriots have gradually turned into one of the worst teams in football with no clear direction. Belichick is the HC and GM of the team and has been for years.
His poor drafting at times and poor free agency decisions have become more evident since Brady left, and I would not be surprised if Robert Kraft forces Belichick to give up his GM duties and brings in someone else to hold that role. Anyway, after two stints as HC in the NFL, McDaniels is out yet again.
He's gone 20-33 as HC of the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders, coaching up bad rosters that he's had a hand in building and not fielding productive offenses out of New England. Offensively, he's found little to no success outside of New England. In 2009 and 2010 with the Denver Broncos, McDaniels' offenses ranked 20th and 19th in points scored.
He then spent one year with the St. Louis Rams in 2011 as their OC, and that unit ranked dead last in points. During each year McDaniels was with Tom Brady in New England, the team never ranked lower than 7th in the NFL in points per game. During the 2020 season, he coached a Cam Newton-led offense that ranked 27th in points scored.
And in 2022 and 2023 with the Raiders, McDaniels ranked 12th and 30th in points per game. He won less than 40% of his games as HC in the NFL and has had virtually no success being apart from Tom Brady. I think it's reasonable to suggest that both McDaniels and Belichick were greatly elevated with Tom Brady and perhaps are not as good of coaches as we think.