On Tuesday, there were reports the Raiders were looking into a couple of under the radar candidates for their head coaching job, and even though those candidates were never named, an ESPN report on Thursday mentioned two coaches that might fall into that category.
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders are casting a wide net in their coaching search, and each mentioned a coach they qualified as a “sleeper” candidate.
“The league is ripe with examples of savvy offensive minds who instantly changed the tenor of a franchise upon becoming a head coach,” Graziano said. “Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is one to watch, and it’s worth noting the Raiders tried to hire Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to the same position under Pierce. I’ve got Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as a sleeper. And I imagine Flores gets a look.”
All three candidates Graziano listed are names that have already been linked to the Raiders, but it’s worth noting that Monken is a lot more popular in NFL circles than he is among the general fan base.
Monken is the architect of the Baltimore Ravens offense as we know it today and he also coached at the University of Georgia while Brock Bowers was in the building. Monken got the most out of quarterback Stetson Bennett at Georgia, and Bennett was probably drafted a couple rounds ahead of his abilities when he was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round of the 2023 draft.
The other sleeper candidate came from Fowler and his candidate comes with a lot more notoriety and NFL experience than Monken.
“I could see Vegas targeting culture-builders for interviews. I was told not to sleep on Pete Carroll’s potential involvement,” Fowler said. “Reports implicated Bill Belichick, whose buyout at North Carolina is $10 million, as a person of interest via the Brady connection. I’ll believe that when I see it, though.”
The Belichick rumors have mostly been squashed as they relate to the Raiders, but there is every reason to believe Tom Brady reached out to his former coach to gauge his interest in coming to Las Vegas.
As both insiders pointed out, the Raiders have a major detail working against them in their coaching search. Without a proven quarterback on the roster, there’s no guarantee the Raiders are going to have legitimate starter on the roster in 2025.
Aidan O’Connell played admirably in 2024, but the second-year quarterback isn’t going to be the draw that brings any of the top coaching candidates to Las Vegas.
What the Raiders do have working to their advantage, though, is the presence of Brady. Brady has connections all around the league and he might be able to attract a coach that the Raiders otherwise probably would not have been able to get.
One detail to keep in mind as the process plays out is that it seems like one or more of the Raiders’ coaching targets have given some indication that they would take the job if it were offered to them.
According to NFL insider Josina Anderson, the Raiders were looking into at least two candidates in the days leading up to Pierce’s firing and something about that process is what held up the decision on Pierce.
“I’m told the Raiders have been continuing to look into at least two candidates in particular that have peaked the interest of ownership behind-the-scenes,” Anderson reported on X. “The availability and interest of said prospects was what was causing the delay on a official decision on Antonio Pierce.”
For as much at the Raiders have been criticized for waiting an additional 24 hours to fire Pierce, they didn’t destroy their chances with any potential candidates. It would be naive to believe they haven’t been talking with prospective candidates for weeks and there’s a good chance they wanted confirmation from one or more of those coaches before cutting ties with Pierce.
There have been upwards of 10 coaching candidates already linked to the Raiders and there’s a good chance a couple more are in the mix that haven’t been talked about to this point.
A full list of official coaching interviews around the league can be found at Pro Football Post.
x: @raidersbeat
Hard to understand the Telesco firing. He had done a good job with his first draft, better than any other GM that Mark had hired. I think maybe the Minshew signing did him in or that his departure was mutual because maybe he wasn’t given the opportunity to make the next HC hire? I’ve watched this team drowning in ineptitude for the 40+ years and I have little confidence that the situation will change with Mark “no clue” Davis continuing at the helm.