The Raiders will have a new head coach soon (they may have to wait until after the Super Bowl to make it official) and the expectation is that Tom Brady will make the call on who the coach is going to be.
With that in mind, Raider fans were paying close attention to Brady’s comments on Sunday, and it seemed obvious during the FOX telecast of the NFC Championship game that Brady thinks a lot of Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Kubiak has been considered by many to be the front runner for the Raiders’ HC job and Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers said on Monday that Brady’s comments on Kubiak reminded him of the way he talked about Ben Johnson a year ago.
“For me, it’s real simple. Klint Kubiak with what he’s been able to do all year long and he was in his bag again on Sunday and as Lincoln [Kennedy] said, Tom Brady was gushing over him and that’s the same thing he did with Ben Johnson last year,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“That’s who [Brady] really wanted to be the Raiders head coach was Ben Johnson. So Tom Brady was telling you a lot without telling you a lot throughout the course of the broadcast about how he feels about Klint Kubiak.”
As for the hiring process in general, Myers thinks Kubiak is at the top of the Raiders’ list, followed by Davis Webb and Mike McDaniel, who ended up being hired by the Chargers not long after the podcast was released.
“I think the pecking order is real simple,” Myers said of the Raiders’ coaching candidates.
“I think it’s Klint Kubiak followed by Davis Webb and Mike McDaniel is your fallback plan. If for some reason, say Kubiak stays in Seattle, which I know the Seahawks are trying to put a full court press to try to keep them there in Seattle and maybe Davis Webb goes to the Bills, who he’s meeting with earlier today, and then he’ll be meeting with the Raiders later on this afternoon. Maybe he ends up in Buffalo.”
“He has a relationship with Josh Allen and then all of a sudden they’re looking up, saying, okay, our first two options aren’t there. Then they bring in Mike McDaniel. I think it’s just really that simple.”
As for the “full court press” Myers mentioned the Seahawks are putting on Kubiak, that was a pretty clear reference to a report on Sunday from league insider Tony Pauline.
According to Pauline, the Seahawks are trying hard to keep Kubiak in the building for another year.
“Could Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak pull a Ben Johnson and rebuff head coaching offers to stay with his current team? It’s not out of the question, sources here in Frisco say,” Pauline reported over the weekend.
“I’m told that Kubiak wants to go to a franchise that already has a quarterback in place, which the Bills most certainly do. Yet several people in the know tell me they do not think Kubiak will be the next head coach in Buffalo, with some saying it’s definitely not happening. Kubiak is also a leading candidate for the Las Vegas job, and the Raiders are expected to select their quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, with the first pick in this April’s draft.”
“At the same time, multiple sources tell me that the Seahawks are putting on a full-court press to keep Kubiak on staff. It’s an interesting dynamic that could take a while to play out, depending on whether or not the Seahawks’ season continues past today.”
x: @raidersbeat
I just read an article that Kubiack is staying put. Another vicious rumor. Just get it right this time
Waiting 2 weeks for Kubiak makes me wonder what kind of staff he would be able to put together. There are always people available, but no doubt the good coaches are getting hired. Does that effect his decision? Maybe he does go back to Seattle. If you’re a first time head coach, do you want your staff made up of guys who couldn’t catch on? I know these guys are all connected and have guys in mind when they get their big job, but you can’t give everyone advancement, and teams don’t have to give coaches permission to interview.
“He wants to go to where a quarterback is already in place”
Yeah right, they have Sam Darnold off the scrap heap in Seattle headed to a Super Bowl. The OC (or HC playing OC) makes the QB great, by putting in place great schemes. a well oiled OL and a strong running game. Every backup QB in the NFL can do what Mac Jones did in SF with everything else in place.
A great coaching candidate will see a team that desperately needs that offensive system and coaching, along with two elite weapons in Bowers and Jeanty, and likely the top rated QB on the draft, and will think, I just need to install a good blocking scheme and build this rocket ship.
Any candidate that thinks that can’t for that without having this mythical franchise QB in place is not worth hiring.