Jimmy Garoppolo Jan 30, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) drops back to pass against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half during the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

When Jimmy Garoppolo announced that he was joining the Las Vegas Raiders, many weren’t surprised.

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels was his offensive coordinator while he was in New England, so it was only natural that he would want to be part of the team.

Garoppolo explained why he wanted to work with McDaniels again.

“For me, it starts with, he’s very smart,” Garoppolo said in his introductory press conference last week. “He’s very smart. He taught me the game of football basically in the NFL. But he cares, too, about the game like he cares about winning. You could really tell just talking to him that winning is important to him, and I wouldn’t say that’s true about everyone in the NFL. So when you do get an opportunity like that, I mean, it’s hard to pass up.”

Garoppolo also credits McDaniels for why he become a successful quarterback in the NFL.

“[T]hankfully, Josh [McDaniels] and Jerry Schuplinski, they basically raised me in the NFL,” Garoppolo said. “I didn’t know what a Mike point was. I didn’t know how to set up protection, but they taught me all that stuff back in the New England days, and it’s done me very well going forward. So I appreciate those guys and I’m going to keep trying to learn from them.”

Garoppolo hopes that his success in the past will translate to wins in the future for him and McDaniels.

{SI.com}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.