Josh McDaniels traded away Peyton Hillis from Denver due to wife’s alleged attraction towards RB, claims former Broncos TE

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels was fired from the team recently on October 31, 2023. Since being fired, there's been many different rumors and stories about McDaniels being a problematic coach.

Recently, former Denver Broncos tight end Nate Jackson, who played for the team from 2003-2008, opened up on defector.com about why McDaniels was a problemed coach. He included a piece in the article about trading away former running back Peyton Hillis because he thought his wife was attracted to Hillis.

Jackson wrote:

"McDaniels' ego wasn't only fragile on the field. He famously shipped out running back Peyton Hillis because, rumor had it, McDaniels thought his wife was attracted to Hillis. For those of us accustomed to being handled with class—Shanahan, agree with him or not, could be counted upon for this—Josh's approach to leadership left much to be desired."

"Case in point: I found out my Broncos career was over from a message left on my parents' answering machine. “Honey, there’s something I think you need to listen to.” When I tried to contact Josh for an explanation, his secretary told me he was in a meeting and that he’d call me back. He never did."

Josh McDaniels reportedly flipped out on the Las Vegas Raiders when Antonio Pierce spoke about his former New England Patriots team

Josh McDaniels during Las Vegas Raiders v Los Angeles Chargers

There were rumors about what led up to Josh McDaniels' firing after he was fired. Reportedly, when Antonio Pierce drew comparisons of the Raiders to his NY Giants that beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, McDaniels told him to never speak about the Patriots that way. That's when the locker room got divided.

Per Jay Glazer's report:

“When Antonio Pierce got up there, he said, ‘Look guys, we have to have our own culture. It’s gotta be about culture here,'” Glazer said. “And he brought up the old Giants team that beat the Patriots, Josh McDaniels’ team, in the Super Bowl in the 2007 season. He said, ‘No matter who we played, we thought we could beat them. We had a game plan that we could beat them. We had to believe that, and that’s not here. We have to believe it here at the Raiders (that) we can beat anybody.'”

“When he finished up that speech, everybody thinks they’re great — except for Josh McDaniels. Josh McDaniels then goes over to him and says, ‘Don’t ever talk about the Patriots like that,’ and then you really saw how divided that building got.”

McDaniels is no longer the head coach of the Raiders. It wouldn't be a big surprise if he were to re-join the Patriots next season, as he returned to the Patriots upon being fired by the Denver Broncos earlier in his career.m

If you use any of the above quotes, credit defector.com, Jay Glazer and H/T Sportskeeda