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Josh McDaniels’ struggles a continuation of Bill Belichick’s rotten coaching tree
Josh McDaniels' struggles a continuation of Bill Belichick's rotten coaching tree,McDaniels is 13-24 as a head coach in Denver and Las Vegas. He's not the first Belichick understudy to fail.

Josh McDaniels’ struggles a continuation of Bill Belichick’s rotten coaching tree

The Raiders learned a hard lesson about the Bill Belichick coaching tree: Don’t pick its fruitless branches. 

Raiders (2-7) head coach Josh McDaniels is the latest Belichick disciple to crash. Even though he flashed brilliance as New England’s offensive coordinator, winning three Super Bowls, he’s flopping for the second time as a head coach. 

McDaniels is 13-24 as a head coach in Denver and Las Vegas. He’s not the first Belichick understudy to fail.

Despite Belichick’s six Super Bowl titles in New England, having roots that tie back to him spells doom for a young head coach. Per BetMGM, Belichick has more regular-season wins (296) than all of his proteges combined (238). None have led their teams to a Super Bowl appearance. 

Bill Belichick has more regular-season NFL wins than his entire coaching tree combined pic.twitter.com/KZ93Fmcztn

— BetMGM (@BetMGM) November 7, 2022

How can coaches, who were surrounded by success for years, completely misfire? Belichick doesn’t bestow them with the secret to success or let them use his resources.

In 2019, he elaborated during an HBO documentary with Alabama head coach Nick Saban, a close friend.

“I’m happy for people who’ve worked hard for me to get opportunities,” Belichick said. “I want to see them build their own program. When they try to tear down our program, that’s kind of where the line I feel gets crossed.” 

Belichick pulled a trick on these organizations. They thought they grabbed a small chunk of the “Patriot way,” but he corked all pipelines connecting to his system. 

Raiders wideout Davante Adams tried to defend his coach. 

“(We) just don’t have enough guys that are fully bought in,” Adams said, per The Athletic. 

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However, the players may feel they have nothing to buy in to since McDaniels lacks a solid platform to build his culture.