The Las Vegas Raiders are trying to build their team the Patriot Way.

Owner Mark Davis tapped into the NFL’s most successful franchise in two decades when he hired Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler as the new general manager. Davis strikes a deal to make New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels the new coach in Las Vegas.

The Raiders announced Sunday that they have hired Ziegler to replace the fired Mike Mayock. A person familiar with the search said they were finalizing a deal with McDaniels to coach him to fill the void created when Jon Gruden stepped down in October. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not made an announcement.

Davis interviewed several candidates for the two positions before choosing a pair with a long history of working together. The two were college teammates under John Carroll, and McDaniels brought Ziegler with him to Denver during his first stint as head coach.

The two have worked together in New England for the past nine seasons, with McDaniels serving as offensive coordinator and Ziegler rising through the ranks in the scouting department before being promoted to director of player personnel in 2021.

The two take control of a team that is coming off its second-place finish in the playoffs in the past 19 seasons. Las Vegas won its last four regular season games to qualify as wild cards before losing to Cincinnati.

Caretaker coach Rich Bisaccia guided the team through a difficult season after Gruden resigned in October following the publication of his old offensive emails. Star catcher Henry Ruggs III was released in November after being charged with DUI crimes following a fatal accident that killed a 23-year-old woman.

Bisaccia’s work won him the support of the players, but Davis chose to go in a different direction.

McDaniels is considered one of the brightest offensive minds in the game with his many years working with Tom Brady on the Patriots and his work this season helping develop rookie Mac Jones.

But his first experience as a head coach quickly fell apart following a 6-0 start in 2009 after he traded quarterback Jay Cutler in one of his first moves. Denver finished 8-8 that season and McDaniels was fired 3-9 in 2010, losing 17 of his last 22 games as coach.

McDaniels was also fined $50,000 by the NFL for failing to report that the team’s director of video operations videotaped a San Francisco 49ers practice before the teams played a game in 2010 in London. The investigation determined that McDaniels was unaware of the taping in advance and refused to see it, but he was punished for not immediately reporting the violation to the league.

While several former assistants to Bill Belichick in New England have obtained head coaching positions, the success rate of these coaches is not high.

The seven coaches – McDaniels, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Bill O’Brien, Matt Patricia, Brian Flores and Joe Judge – have combined for a .410 winning percentage and five playoff berths in the 27 seasons they started as a coach. -chief. O’Brien had four of those playoff seasons in Houston, with Mangini having the other with the Jets.

McDaniels takes over a team that has several key pieces in place, including quarterback Derek Carr, who is entering the final year of his contract.

Las Vegas also has several other positions with point carrier Maxx Crosby, tight end Darren Waller, left tackle Kolton Miller and receiver Hunter Renfrow.

The Raiders also decided to decide for this offseason to choose fifth-year options over 2019 first-round picks Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abram,

Ferrell has had a limited role this season and struggled to make a big impact after being picked fourth overall. Jacobs has been quite productive with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, but a guaranteed salary of $10.1 million for 2023 could be costly.

Abram has only played 28 games due to injuries in his three seasons and has struggled to protect himself.

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