The Las Vegas Raiders are at a crossroads. Do they stick with head coach Antonio Pierce or do they Lane Kiffin him before the playoffs?
With future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, a part owner, most insiders speculate that Brady will bring his winning attitude and football expertise to do a little spring cleaning with the Raiders.
Rumors are swirling about which coaches might be a good fit for the Raiders in the next season.
Here are the top 5 names that have been floated around.
- Mike Vrabel
Former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel is at the top of the list to possibly replace Pierce. Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter thinks that Vrabel will get the nod from the Raiders to be the next head coach. Carpenter said on The Las Vegas Raiders Insiders podcast, “I am in no way advocating for moving on from Antonio, at all, and I want to make that clear. But I believe that if they move on from him, it will be Mike Vrabel. He has a great relationship with [Tom] Brady. They are very close.”
- Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick is in the mix for obvious reasons, the Tom Brady connection. He would be someone that the organization could trust to get the job done of restoring the Raiders back to their winning ways. Also, Belichick has a winning reputation and has a no-nonsense approach to football. He understands the x’s and o’s. The drawback to a Belichick is that the man is 72 years old. The question with Belichick is would he have the stamina for a 18-week season? Probably not.
- Jon Gruden
Another familiar choice for nostalgic reasons. Under Gruden, his record with the Raiders overall was 64-38. If you remember back in 2021, Jon Gruden stepped down from the organization after making racist, homophobic, and misogynist remarks about various people in the NFL. It is reported by The New York Times that Jon Gruden was not happy with the direction that NFL was going in before he stepped down. In an in-depth investigation by the league, it found that Gruden made disparaging comments about the LGTBQIA+ community, specifically the acceptance and drafting of gay players, the introduction of women referees, and the protesting of the National Anthem by certain players. If Gruden were to be given another chance at the helm, he would completely alienate most of the Raiders’ fanbase (i.e. Women, LGTBQIA+ community, & Minorites). That would be a disastrous hire and a public relations nightmare for the Raiders organization.
- Kliff Kingsbury
Kingsbury sounds like a great fit for the Raiders. Sure, he’s a great offensive-minded coach with the ability to score consistently but his problem lies in not finishing out the games. The Raiders could benefit from a coach with the complete package and Kliff Kingsbury is not there yet. Also, although he is an offensive genius, Kingsbury’s defenses were sub-par when he was a head coach, but he still may be worth the hire if he finds a decent defensive coordinator.
- Joe Brady
A sleeper choice for the job would be Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady. In the past, Brady has been glanced over for head coaching jobs. The con for the Raiders hiring Joe Brady would be his youth. It would be hard to hire a young coach who players might not respect or take seriously. Plus, they’ve already made that mistake when they hired a young Lane Kiffin, so they may not want to go that route again.
Whoever the Raiders choose to pick in the off-season (if they decide to fire Pierce as many think) he needs to make an impact early.
The Raiders’ goal is to rebuild the franchise with their draft picks, add some veteran players, have a steady defense, and build an offensive machine that will guarantee them wins consistently week in and week out.
