
Mark Davis has a giant choice approaching his subsequent head coach, however in line with NFL Community’s Tom Pelissero, the Raiders have already got two of the most effective younger coaches within the league.
And really, Pelissero threw in an “honor point out” to 2 others: interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree and passing sport coordinator Scott Turner.
As for the highest two names on the record, possibly you’ve heard of the them…
DC Patrick Graham
“A former Yale defensive lineman, Graham is now in his twenty second 12 months in teaching, the previous 15 within the NFL (profitable Tremendous Bowl XLIX with the 2014 Patriots). He’s passionate, has excessive expectations and holds gamers accountable. With Las Vegas fielding one of many NFL’s worst offenses in 2023, it was the Raiders’ protection that saved them in video games amidst a 3-5 begin that finally value head coach Josh McDaniels his job.
Proprietor Mark Davis handed over Graham to call linebackers coach Antonio Pierce the Raiders’ interim coach — an more and more frequent transfer throughout the league to keep away from disrupting the coordinators — and Las Vegas has gained each video games since, with Graham’s protection yielding a grand complete of 18 factors. Graham had a second interview for the Vikings’ head teaching job after the 2021 season, and the Jets wished to interview him the earlier 12 months, however the coach signed an extension together with his employer on the time, the Giants.”
Interim HC Antonio Pierce
“A nine-year NFL veteran linebacker who gained Tremendous Bowl XLII with the Giants, Pierce was the shock selection as Raiders interim head coach in simply his second season as an NFL assistant. He beforehand spent 4 years in quite a lot of roles on Herm Edwards’ workers at Arizona State, earlier than resigning in February 2022 amidst an NCAA investigation into this system’s potential recruiting violations.
Pierce has apparent presence and credibility as a former participant. He labored in media and enterprise earlier than going into teaching, giving him some distinctive real-world expertise. Proprietor Mark Davis has instructed media retailers that Pierce has a possibility to earn the full-time job. Pierce simply turned 45 final month, so we’re giving him a one-year exemption onto this record, as the most recent fascinating check case of a former participant with comparatively little teaching expertise getting the chance to run the present.”
For what it’s value, the opposite candidate that was thought-about for the Raiders interim HC job was huge receivers coach Edgar Bennett, who was retained from Jon Gruden’s workers and has been with the crew for six years.
At 54 years previous, Bennett may not be one of many youthful coaches within the league, however he’s positively one of the revered.
twitter: @raidersbeat