There have been a lot of names connected to the Raiders in their head coaching search, and a name popped up on Saturday that everyone will be familiar with.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore, University of Colorado coach Deion Sanders has used backchannels within the industry to express interest in the Raiders’ head coaching vacancy.
“Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has his eyes on the Raiders’ coaching job, according to a person with knowledge of the situation,” Bonsignore reported on Saturday. “‘He has a very strong interest in the job,’ the person said. The person indicated that NFL-connected associates of Sanders reached out to the Raiders to express Sanders’ interest in the opening.”
Bonsignore said it is “unclear” if the Raiders have interest in Sanders, but every indication to this point in the process is that they do not.
The perk of hiring Sanders would potentially be the angle of getting Shedeur Sanders, but there would be a lot of uncertainty to that scenario playing out as the Raiders don’t have a high enough draft pick to be confident they could get Shedeur.
It’s also possible the Raiders aren’t as enamored with Shedeur as has been reported in recent months.
For now, it looks like the Raiders are going to pass over Sanders, and from the outside it looks like Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel and Pete Carroll are the favorites to ultimately get the job.
Johnson was considered a long shot for the job, but recent reports have suggested he is firmly in the mix for the Raiders’ job after Friday’s interview.
“While the coaching world can invite all sorts of craziness, sources say there is one particular team to keep an eye on for Johnson: the Las Vegas Raiders,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Saturday. “He has quickly emerged as the candidate to watch for Las Vegas, as the Raiders — in a search that prominently includes limited partner Tom Brady — are willing to wait as long as it takes to secure their potential future head coach… Las Vegas is said to be enamored with Johnson, sources say.”
Separate reports have hinted that Carroll is considered a front runner for the job and as long as Vrabel is available, he has to be considered a strong candidate for the job.
To this point, Vrabel isn’t scheduled to interview with the Raiders, but with his relationship to Brady, that situation could materialize in a hurry.
x: @raidersbeat
One of if not the best shut down corners ever. But as a head coach or even someone who talks about football, absolutely not.
This is the utmost case of Daddy ball that I’ve ever seen. Will he still coach the team if they pass on drafting his son at QB? I think the team can do better in selecting a HC.
Run away as fast has Prime use to be able to do back in the day. No NFL team can have a coach emotionally tied to his QB, let alone actually be his parent. What would happen when it was time to remove one or the other? It will happen, what is the longest QB and HC combo ? Oh yeah, it’s the guy making our football decisions. Even he eventually flew the coop.