The Raiders are a virtual lock to take Fernando Mendoza with the first pick in the 2026 draft, and one of their priorities now is to build a coaching staff around Mendoza that puts him in the best position to succeed at the NFL level.
Some have mentioned the idea of Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti following Mendoza to the Raiders, but Cignetti has been clear that he isn’t interested in leaving the college ranks.
With Cignetti not an option, it sounds like the Raiders might be looking a little farther down the Indiana coaching staff for a coach to pair with Mendoza in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter offered an Indiana assistant to keep an eye on to potentially take a role with the Raiders.
“There is a name that is emerging and the Raiders are not hiring anybody and telling the next coach ‘you’re stuck with this person.’ When this is all over, I’m going to be able to explain this… but there is a gentleman on the Indiana staff that I will be surprised if he does not end up on the Raiders’ staff somehow, in some capacity,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“He’s the offensive coordinator at Indiana and the quarterbacks coach. His name is Chandler Whitmer. Keep a close eye on this name. This is a name that I continue to hear from those within the Raider organization and those in the NFL and in college.”
Whitmer is 34 years-old and has more experience with NFL quarterbacks than the majority of coaches in his position.
From his University of Indiana bio, Whitmer has worked with a handful of respected college and NFL quarterbacks…
“With a coaching resume that includes work with some of the top names in quarterbacking at the collegiate and NFL levels, Chandler Whitmer was tabbed quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator by Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti for the 2025 season. He helped Justin Fields (Ohio State) and Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) grow into NFL Draft picks at the collegiate level, tutored Justin Herbert (Los Angeles) to NFL success, and developed Michael Penix Jr. (Atlanta) into an NFL starting quarterback.
Whitmer spent the past four seasons in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Chargers (2021-23) as an offensive quality control assistant and the Atlanta Falcons (2024) as the pass game specialist. In both roles, he worked primarily with the quarterback position.
He got his start in coaching at the college level with stops as a graduate assistant at Yale (2018), Ohio State (2019) and Clemson (2020), where he made College Playoff appearances with the Buckeyes and Tigers. Whitmer worked with top-10 passing offenses in three of his four campaigns at the professional level, including the No. 3 passing offense in 2021 (269.6 ypg) and 2022 (282.4 ypg), and the Chargers made the playoffs in 2022 as an AFC Wild Card. Through 16 weeks of the 2024 season, the Falcons ranked No. 6 in passing (238.9 ypg).
His one season in Atlanta included the development of Penix Jr., who was the team’s first-round draft choice in 2024. Whitmer helped Penix Jr. move into the starting quarterback role in Week 16 with the Falcons in the thick of an NFC South title chase.
While in Los Angeles, Herbert set NFL records as no player has more completions (1,316), passing yards (14,089) or total touchdowns (102) over the first three years of a career. Herbert is also the only quarterback in NFL history to begin a career with three-consecutive seasons of 4,000-plus passing yards and is the second to throw 25 touchdowns in each of his first three years, joining Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.
In 2023, Herbert completed 297-of-456 pass attempts (65.1 percent) for 3,134 yards and 20 touchdowns to seven interceptions, prior to being placed on Reserve/Injured following Week 14. The 2021 season saw Herbert become the third-youngest player in NFL history to eclipse 5,000 passing yards in a single campaign. Herbert’s 38 passing scores took his career total to 69, setting the record for most by a QB through their first two pro seasons.
Whitmer’s first year in Los Angeles saw Herbert earn his first career Pro Bowl nod after setting single-season franchise records for yards passing (5,014), passing touchdowns (38), and completions (443). The Bolts posted the second-most fourth-quarter points scored by any team in a single campaign in NFL history (181) and the offensive unit posted single-season team records for first downs (401) and passing touchdowns (38).
As an offensive graduate assistant at Clemson, Whitmer helped the offensive coaching staff and assisted with the quarterback and wide receiver groups. He worked closely with Lawrence, the runner-up for the 2020 Heisman Trophy, as Clemson defeated No. 2 Notre Dame in the ACC Championship and earned a bid in the College Football Playoff for the sixth-straight season.
Whitmer contributed to the offensive coaching staff at Ohio State during its 2019 College Football Playoff run. First-year signal-caller Justin Fields led the Buckeyes to a 12-0 regular season record and a defeat of No. 8 Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.”
x: @raidersbeat
If you have it figured out who Mendoza is, watching the national championship game, should’ve completely educated you. Zero completions on balls in the air 20 yards or more. Two very near pics. 186 Ish yards passing on 16 completions. With over half of those yards YAC. Every snap he’s ever taken has been out of a shotgun. You do realize there’s a difference between college football and professional football, right? And you want to take him first overall in the draft? There’s a fool bar every second. And that’s a lot of seconds. Because there are a lot of fools out there sold on Mendoza.
Blow me
Intellect of a rock. Thanks for that articulate response. Fanboy
A lot of fags like you out v there passing aids also fag
Careful. Your mom‘s going to take your play phone away.
And you better take the cat out of the dryer before your mom catches you. You sick fu ck.
You must be a KC Chiefs fan you hate the idea of the Raiders going to get a quarterback just admit it
If you were a regular in here and knew how to read, you might have a clue.
Trade the pick. Let another fool take a dive on another bust.
All that draft capital, use it next year to draft arch Manning. Build an offensive line that can protect a quarterback in this draft and free agency and be ready for that rookie quarterback next season.
Common sense. Get some..
I was the Raiders fan long before you were born
A little advice for whoever wrote this article – if you’re going to spotlight a particular individual in your article could you at least get their name consistently right? Is it Witmer or Whitmer or something else? Why not Waldo?
Whitmar san
Sounds good, the Raiders should do it, just do it!
L m a o
Chandler got a pretty good resume of young QB that he has worked with, the only one that didn’t have the success was Justin Fields, but the other guys that he has worked with all playing at high caliber, so why not have him as a coach who could work with Mendoza, Gente, Brock, and the receiving core, hell we may even fix our offensive line