Josh McDaniels believes his failure as the head coach of the Denver Broncos helped prepare him to succeed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

"When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit of football," McDaniels said of his 28-game tenure with the Broncos over the 2009 and '10 seasons. "I didn't really know people and how important that aspect of this process and maintaining the culture and building the team was. I failed, and I didn't succeed at it.

"Looking at that experience has been one of the best things in my life in terms of my overall growth as a person, as a coach. What do I need to do different, how do I need to handle my role, if I have another opportunity, and do better at it?"

McDaniels was just 33 years old when he left the New England Patriots for the Broncos. He was fired by Denver after posting an 11-17 record. He went to the then-St. Louis Rams in 2011 as their offensive coordinator and back to the Patriots a year later before verbally accepting the head job with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, then backing out.

McDaniels said the Raiders, who also hired his good friend and Patriots confidant in Dave Ziegler as general manager, presented the right opportunity at the right time.

"I was very impressed with how exhaustive they were, just in their evaluation of me and my fit and how I would fit into their vision, and then you come out and you spend time with them, you meet the people, you see that everything is done in a first-class manner," said McDaniels, who has been an NFL offensive coordinator/playcaller since 2006. "Their commitment to winning is easy to feel, to see, and, to me, walking through this building and having a sense of the history and tradition of this organization and how much that impacts the day-to-day here, it really hit me.

"This is one of those iconic places, and it's a historic organization that has unbelievable history and tradition. It's in every hallway. Just getting to know them, feeling their commitment and understanding that that really married up with what my vision would be for another opportunity. It was easy to make the choice."