The Raiders are expected to hire Klint Kubiak to be their next head coach in the days (or probably hours) after the Super Bowl and one of the biggest questions around his arrival involves the coach, he will ultimately hire to be his defensive coordinator.
There have been some names tossed around as possibilities to be the Raiders’ next defensive coordinator and Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said there are three candidates creating the most buzz as of Wednesday.
Via the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast, Carpenter offered two outside candidates for the job and one already in the building…
Aden Durde, Seahawks Defensive Coordinator
“This one is very difficult to happen because the Seahawks are going to have to approve him. It’s a lateral move, so the Seahawks would have to approve it. I’m told that would not be easy. It doesn’t mean it would not happen, I want to make that very clear, but his is one of those situations where coming off a Super Bowl, they’re probably not going to be real excited to lose both of their coordinators...
He’d be a fantastic option, just people around the league don’t seem to think that [John] Schneider and the Seahawks are going to be too terribly excited about losing both coordinators when they have the ability to stop one.”
Jim Schwartz, Browns Defensive Coordinator
“Every day I am more intrigued by this for reasons that I don’t need to get into right now, but if it happens, I’m going to share a lot of reasons why this one is intriguing to me…
[Schwartz] is a phenomenal football coach. He’s not a good one. He’s a phenomenal football coach. A very good coordinator… that is legitimate really good name.”
Rob Leonard, Raiders Defensive Line Coach
“I know this. [Leonard] is a universally respected coach and the Raiders would obviously like to keep him, but they are going to let their next coach make that decision.
[Leonard] has had some opportunities in this cycle, but the Raiders are going to let that happen and I think their belief is we’re waiting to see what our next coach wants to do because [Rob] is such a key part of this team.”
Others in the mix…
Carpenter said there are others names he has heard linked to the job, but Durde, Schwartz and Leonard are the most popular candidates at the moment.
Earlier in the week, the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore seemed to think Durde might have a slight edge to get the job.
“If I were a Raider Nation, I would get familiarized with the guy by the name of Aden Durde. He’s the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator. But don’t be surprised if he’s a prominent figure in all this,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“Well, but Vinny, he’s a defensive coordinator. That would be a lateral move. Yes and no.
He doesn’t call the defensive plays for the Seattle Seahawks. That’s Mike Macdonald. Remember, the head coach is a defensive minded head coach who calls the defense,” Bonsignore continued.
“So there’s ways to get around that if he wants to up his resume a little bit and be the actual defensive play caller. Then that wouldn’t necessarily be a lateral move. There’s, I think, some other things that you might have to do in terms of the title. But keep your eye on that.”
x: @raidersbeat