The Raiders are expected to interview Klint Kubiak on Saturday, and the popular thinking right now is that Kubiak is the candidate Tom Brady and John Spytek are zeroing in on to be the Raiders’ next head coach.
After the way things ended for the last few head coaches in Las Vegas, not everyone has viewed the Raiders’ job as an ideal situation, but the Raiders might have a connection to Kubiak that goes all the way back to his father’s time as head coach of the Broncos.
Gary Kubiak was the Broncos head coach in 2015 and Spytek had a scouting role in Denver at that time.
A report last year at The Athletic detailed the elder Kubiak’s relationship Spytek, who was only 35 years old at the time…
“While Denver went on to make the playoffs for the fourth season in a row, the front office felt the team — led by Peyton Manning — was capable of more. That led them to fire coach John Fox and replace him with Gary Kubiak in 2015.
When Kubiak was getting up to speed that offseason, he leaned on Spytek.
‘What I remember about Spy is he was one of the people that (was) giving me a grasp on the team, what I had, what they thought our strengths were, what we had to do to continue to move forward and have a chance to win a championship,’ Kubiak said in a phone interview. ‘He helped get me comfortable with the team so that I could get in there and work with my coaches and start to break down our needs and get ready for the draft. He was a big, big asset to me.‘
The Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in Kubiak’s first season as coach.”
In theory, any reservations Klint Kubiak might have about working under Tom Brady – and there are indications he may have a few – might be alleviated by the fact that Spytek is in the building.
Based on last year’s report from Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed (The Athletic), the Kubiak family has respect for Spytek and that dynamic might tip the scales in the Raiders’ favor.
Last year, the Raiders came up short in their efforts to hire the top coaching candidate on the board but based on the way the situation looks right now, it’s starting to feel Brady and Spytek might land their no. 1 choice this year.
x: @raidersbeat
Davis Webb withdrew his name from consideration. Raiders waited too long and now we lost him. Kubiak also meeting with Arizona we might not get him either. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Idiot Brady and Spytek. Conduct another 100 interviews and take all summer.
Brady and Spytek have to be two of the DUMBEST individuals to ever be hired to run a team. What have they done right so far? If Kubiak doesn’t take the job the Raiders are F****D.
Tom Brady and John Spytwk please please please just GTFO.
No, the Raiders won’t be screwed if both Webb & Kubiak walk, Marky Boy will coach the team and bring in big females to block for Geno Smith
The Raiders need, in addition to a competent offensive line, competent veteran quarterback depth, namely mobile Malik Willis as the starter, who would cost much less than and, is younger than Lamar Jackson and is on the rise. Seek out a trade for mobile, battle tested and cerebral Joshua Dobbs, from the Patriots, as the backup and then draft Fernando Mendoza, on a rookie contract. That way Mendoza won’t be under pressure to start immediately and can do what Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love did, sit for three years and learn. That’s how you add competent depth at this position. Thereby, by the time Mendoza is ready to start, hopefully, the Raiders will have built up the team in other areas. Additionally, go get Philiph Rivers to mentor all three quarterbacks. In my opinion, there is NO better person to mentor young quarterbacks than Rivers.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to address the (not so) Special teams. The offensive line and Special Teams coaches could use a serious upgrade. Look at how Seattle has revamped it’s special team. Systemic, systematic rebuilding is the road to return to respectability. What everyone can agree on is the past few attempts at short term fixes have not produced effective results. It seems that we are stuck with the guys who call themselves “Raiders Management,” so let’s see how they, this year, address last year’s “team” and debacle that they put on the field.
Kolton Miller, Stone Forsythe, Zamir White, Dillon Laube, Tyree Wilson, Alex Cappa, Kenny Pickett, Geno Smith and lead footed, immobile Adian O’Connell all need to be let go. Their contracts could be used on inexpensive youthful players with tremendous upsides and, to a lesser degree, injury histories. Additionally, get a couple of fullbacks who are tight end body types and USE them on third and short instead of putting additional pressure on Ashton Genty. That’s called being innovative and pragmatic. The Ravens “sometimes” use Derrick Henry as a battering ram on third and short. At the very least, the Raiders should consider, if not incorporate, this tactic.
Round 1, Pick 1: Mendoza QB Indiana
Round 2, Pick 36: Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon Ducks G
Round 3, Pick 67: Akheem Mesidor, DE, Miami
Round 4, Pick 102: J.C. Davis, Illinois OT
Round 5, Pick 174: Kage Casey OL Boise State
Round 6, Pick 181: Gracen Halton, Oklahoma Sooners DT