The Raiders have a front runner for the player they are expected to take no. 1 in the draft, but is there a head coaching candidate currently at the top of their list?
There have been a lot of coaching candidates linked to the Raiders, but the expectation of many is that Tom Brady and company are going to prioritize finding an offensive-minded head coach to pair with Fernando Mendoza at quarterback.
Insiders around the team have offered their thoughts on the Raiders’ head coaching search in recent days, and flagship radio host Q Myers threw out two names on Monday that he believes are the current front runners to get the job.
It’s still relatively early in the search process, but Myers pointed to two young offensive coaches as his favorites to end up in Las Vegas as of Tuesday morning.
“Honestly, when it’s all said and done, I think it’s coming down to Klint Kubiak or Davis Webb. That’s just my gut feeling,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast.
I just feel like it’s going to come down to those two guys. I do like the Rams guys like Mike LaFleur and Nathan Scheelhaase. I like those guys, too, and coming from the Sean McVay tree, you’re not going with a bad guy at all. But I just feel like the way that the kind of the tea leaves are lining up, I feel like it’s either going to be Kubiak or Davis Webb as the Raiders head football coach. But again, they can’t meet with those guys in person until after the championship weekend, which is coming up this weekend.”
For what it’s worth, Kubiak and Webb have been at the top of most speculation around the Raiders’ coaching vacancy, but Chat Sports’ host Mitchell Renz has been talking a lot about Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter in the last two days.
“Minter has been the name that I have heard, by far, the most in terms of who [John] Spytek and Tom Brady want,” Renz said on Monday.
On Tuesday, Renz threw around the idea of the Raiders hiring Minter as soon as Wednesday, so it will be interesting to see how that situation plays out, as well.
For anyone keeping track of what other insiders around the team has been saying in recent days, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore said he believes the Raiders next head coach is still coaching in the playoffs and listed one candidate by name.
“It’s almost guaranteed, I would say, that the next Raiders head coach is in somehow, some way involved this weekend. Davis Webb, as well, and I think he’s gaining a lot of steam in Raiders quarters. So keep an eye on that,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s The Morning Tailgate prior to the divisional round of the playoffs.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter has been talking about Webb but continues to point to Kubiak and Mike LaFleur as his favorites for the Raiders’ job.
“I told you the day we broke the story that Pete [Carroll] was getting fired, and you can go back and read the article. The two leading candidates [are] Mike LaFleur and Klint Kubiak. They still are,” Hondo said last week on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“No. 2 on my list is Mike LaFleur. He’s a brilliant mind and when he has that interview, I expect he’s going to blow them away… and then Klint Kubiak, I think, without a doubt is your leader. I was asked today by someone, if you had to bet, well, I don’t bet on this stuff, but I, at this point, I think Kubiak, LaFleur, Davis, Scheelhaase, it’s those four I think the coach will come from. I’ve told you from day one, I thought it would be the LaFleur [or] Kubiak.”
x: @raidersbeat
Here is my opinion after a few failed atempts at securung a good head coach. A head coach should be good at motivating players, coaches and personell on both sides of the ball. A offensive guru or offensive side of the ball including working or developing a qb should be left to offensive coordinator. The Raiders are making the same mistake if this guy is a developer and not a motivator of entire team.
I completely agree with this. We need a big-picture head coach who will grow with the whole team, not be hired to coach a specific player or room. That’s the job of coordinators. And we don’t need fighting among the coaches either. I wish that Brady/Davis would step back and let people be their best, not constantly worry about what ownership wants.
Exactly and you stated it better than me.
If Minter, Brian Daboll or Mike McDaniel needs to be the OC
Whoever the raiders pick, he needs to have a set of balls and yell who’s really operating this goat rope team to back off and let me pick the coaches, and let run and make decisions I see fit.
I’m down with Webb despite his inexperience. He can grow along woth Mendoza and we could end up with a Belichick/Brady type duo.
If they want a offensive coach then they should hire Mike McDaniel.