The Las Vegas Raiders became the first NFL team to make a head-coaching change in 2023 when they fired Josh McDaniels just 25 games into his tenure. The move came late on Halloween night, when the franchise released a statement announcing that both McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler had been dismissed.

When the Raiders brought McDaniels aboard in January 2022, they handed him a six-year contract reportedly worth about $10 million per year. The agreement put him slightly ahead of Mike Vrabel’s $9.5 million annual salary.

But with McDaniels’ early exit, Las Vegas remained on the hook for roughly $60 million, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The team paid the remaining four-plus years of his contract.

Since returning to New England to work under Mike Vrabel, McDaniels has been adamant about where he stands on his future. When asked if he still harbors head-coaching ambitions, he shut the speculation down immediately, as revealed by Patriots reporter Phil Perry. “I love living in New England. That’s the short of it,” McDaniels said. “I just try to focus on now. Really enjoy coaching for Mike… That would be surprising if I moved my kids out of Westwood.”

Having experienced the ups and downs of NFL coaching and leaving behind a $60 million trail, McDaniels seems content to stay put. In two seasons with the Raiders, McDaniels posted a disappointing 9–16 record, taking over a 10–7 playoff team and turning it into a 6–11 squad in 2022, followed by another losing trajectory the next year.

If there’s one thing Josh McDaniels appreciates, it’s when a plan starts falling into place. The New England Patriots offensive coordinator—now in his third return to Foxborough—has been piecing together an offense that finally looks alive again.

Even after their strongest showing since 2021, McDaniels insists his group still has plenty more to unlock. But when he looks at quarterback Drake Maye and wideout Stefon Diggs, he sees progress worth getting excited about.

McDaniels has worked with a long list of Patriots passers—Matt Cassel, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cam Newton, Mac Jones, and of course Tom Brady, with whom he captured six Super Bowl titles. That résumé alone makes his latest comments on Maye carry extra weight.

Under McDaniels’ watch, Maye has started to translate those traits into production. Through four games, the 23-year-old has completed 74% of his passes for 988 yards, tossing seven touchdowns against just two interceptions. Proof that the second-year leap is starting to take shape.

Still, McDaniels knows quarterback growth depends on reliable help, and that’s where Stefon Diggs enters the story.

Josh McDaniels sees Stefon Diggs as keys to Patriots’ offensive turnaround

Acquired this offseason, Diggs has already brought a spark that New England’s receiving corps had been missing. In Week 4, he led the team with six catches for 101 yards, and so far, he tops the charts with 19 receptions for 213 yards on the year. His precision routes, steady hands, and burst after the catch have given Maye a true WR1 presence.

When asked about how comfortable he feels in the Patriots’ system, Diggs gave a playful answer: about a “five out of ten.” But McDaniels wasn’t buying the modesty. “It’s probably like a nine out of ten,” McDaniels said with a grin. “There’s still a little juice left to squeeze out of the orange, but he’s been terrific. I think he was just being modest when he said that.”

Slot receivers have always flourished in McDaniels’ playbooks, and Diggs fits right into that mold. With crisp route separation and the ability to stretch the field horizontally or vertically, he’s proving that last year’s ACL recovery hasn’t dulled his explosiveness one bit.

So while McDaniels may not be lighting cigars like The A-Team’s Hannibal Smith, the sentiment still stands—his plan for this offense is finally coming together. And if Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs keep building on this momentum, New England’s offense might be closer to its next great chapter than anyone expected.