Tag: Patrick Graham

Tracking Raiders coaching staff hires

The most up-to-date look at the Raiders new coaching staff under head coach Pete Carroll.

The Raiders coaching staff is filling up. There are still a lot of positions that have either not been filled or not reported yet. And, of course, there are some coaches who are still under contract, but who could still be let go should they add someone new at their position.

So, let’s gather them all into a list to see who is in place so far.

Head coach — Pete Carroll

Offense

Offensive Coordinator — Chip Kelly

Offensive line coach — Brennan Carroll

Quarterback coach — Greg Olson

Running backs coach — Deland McCullough

Wide receivers coach — Chris Beatty

Defense

Defensive coordinator — Patrick Graham (retained)

Defensive pass game coordinator — Joe Woods

Defensive line coach — Rob Leonard (retained)

Linebackers coach — John Glenn

Defensive assistant — Beyah Rasool

Special teams

Special teams coordinator — Tom McMahon (retained)

Other news:

Most coaches who we know will not be back, the team has hired their replacement. We know cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr and safeties coach Gerald Alexander will not return, but we don’t yet know who their replacements will be.

Raiders get back popular defensive line coach with added title

As hoped the Raiders will get defensive line coach Rob Leonard back. And he adds the title of running game coordinator.

Pete Carroll wisely made his top priority upon taking the Raiders job to retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. And with Graham’s return it seemed likely defensive line coach Rob Leonard would be back as well.

Leonard’s return is now confirmed and he does so with the added title of running game coordinator.

Last season it was linebackers coach Mike Caldwell who had the added title of running game coordinator. Now Caldwell has been replaced by former Seahawks LB coach John Glenn, while the running coordinator title shifts to Leonard.

Leonard is credited with helping the Raiders fielding a strong pass rush, including breakout seasons for Malcolm Koonce in 2023 and K’Lavon Chaisson last season. His named was bandied about for open defensive coordinator jobs, so getting him back is another win for this coaching staff.

Raiders bring back DC Patrick Graham under new head coach Pete Carroll

Patrick Graham had several suitors this offseason. Including Raiders head coach Pete Carroll. Thus the Raiders get their top assistant back.

The Raiders have made the best move they could’ve made with regard to the coaching staff — they are holding on to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

Two days after new head coach Pete Carroll said he wanted to retain some of the Raiders current coaching staff, he did just that, keeping on staff the best coach the Raiders have had the past couple of years.

Graham was in some demand this offseason, including twice interviewing with the Jacksonville Jaguars — once for their head coaching position and the second time for their defensive coordinator job under new Jaguars head coach Liam Coen.

In the end, however, the Raiders wanted him back and he wanted to return, so a deal got done to keep him in Las Vegas. You love to see when the Raiders make the right decisions and the position is one that the coach wants to take it.

One would presume this also means Graham will be able to hold onto several of his assistants including defensive line coach Rob Leonard, which would be even more good news for the prospects of the Raiders defensive continuing to be one of their strengths.

Pete Carroll hopes to retain some current Raiders staff. That plan should start with this man

Raiders new head coach Pete Carroll said he wants to retain some current staff in Las Vegas. That plan should start with DC Patrick Graham.

Newly minted Raiders head coach Pete Carroll would like a mixture of coaches on his staff. That is to say some he knows, some he doesn’t, and some returning from the Raiders current staff.

He’s already working on bringing in coaches who have been on his previous staff, holding an interview with his former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. But that’s only part of the puzzle.

“I’m hoping that we can maintain some of the terrific coaches that are on the staff, too, so we can have the benefit of the insights that they bring and the continuity that they can generate for us,” Caroll said at his introductory press conference.

Who they try to keep should start with one man — DC Patrick Graham.

Unmoored by Josh McDaniels after his firing midway through last season, Graham led a resurgence on the Raiders defense. And the rest of the NFL has taken notice.

With Graham’s contract now up, he has gotten several interviews across the league, including this week with the Jacksonville Jaguars to be their defensive coordinator.

It remains to be seen whether, if all things are equal, Graham would prefer a return to the Raiders under Carroll.

It could depend on whether he would be ok with Carroll’s — being a defensive coach — hands-on approach. It could be he’d prefer to be on a staff with an offensive coach so he could have more freedom to run his system on the defensive side of the ball.

Graham’s preferences aside, Carroll would be doing himself a disservice not trying to retain Graham first and foremost.

Keeping Graham would likely mean several of his key position coaches return as well. But even if they are unable to retain Graham, the Raiders should attempt to keep some of his staff. Most notably defensive line coach Rob Leonard.

The Raiders defensive line was one of their strengths the past season and a half. It was led by Maxx Crosby, but didn’t end there, with the likes of Malcolm Koonce and K’Lavon Chaisson seeing breakout years on the other side.

Crosby and the other defensive linemen love Leonard, so it would only strengthen the bond between Carroll and the defense to keep him on staff.

Jaguars holding 2nd head coach interview with Raiders DC

Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh will both do second head coach interviews with the Jaguars this week.

Several teams out there are still looking for a head coach. Among them are the Raiders and Jaguars. This week one of the Raiders assistants will head back to Jacksonville for a second interview for the Jaguars head coaching job.

Patrick Graham led a Raiders defense that came out swinging after the firing of Josh McDaniels in 2023 to finish as the best defense in the league over the latter half. And they continued to be one of the better defenses last season despite being hit with a rash of injuries.

Now the well-respected defensive coordinator is getting a look as a head coach as one of two current candidates this week getting a second interview.

The other is former Jets head coach Robert Saleh.

However, with the recent firing of GM Trent Baalke, the Jaguars are said to be waiting for a couple of other candidates from playoff teams to become available, including Joe Brady and Kellen Moore.

Brady is the OC for the Bills who face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game on Sunday. Moore is is the OC for the Eagles who face the Commanders in the NFC Championship game.

It’s possible one or both of them could be available to interview by Monday.

Many have had Dallas as the destination for Moore as head coach, likely because he spent four seasons as OC there from 2019-22. But the Cowboys are said to be finalizing a deal to make Brian Schottenheimer their next head coach.

This is why they hold the interviews. You never know how things will play out.

Bengals hoping Raiders DC Patrick Graham will make lateral move

Patrick Graham’s contract is up with the Raiders and the Bengals are hoping to land him at the same position.

Patrick Graham’s options are completely open at the moment. He is among a handful of hot names for a number of head coaching opening, including the Jaguars who requested to interview him, but since his contract is up with the Raiders, he can pretty much whatever he wants without the Raiders permission.

The Bengals have reached out to Graham requesting to interview him for their defensive coordinator job according to ESPN’s Tom Pelissero.

This is a lateral move for Graham, but it puts him in a good position to ensure he puts himself in the most favorable spot.

Most times a DC comes available, it’s because he was part of a staff that was let go or he was fired. In this case, he is coming off a couple seasons where he is one of the more respected DC’s in the league.

The Raiders could have some competition for his services, which is a good spot for Graham to be in to ensure a favorable outcome. There are many factors that could go into his decision, including if he thinks the could just end up unemployed this time next year with the rest of the Raiders staff.

Jaguars request head coach interview with Raiders DC Patrick Graham

Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is expected to interview with the Jaguars for their vacant head coaching position.

NFL teams in need of a new head coach are wasting no time in starting that process. Tuesday, just a day after the Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Doug Pederson, they officially announced a long list of interview requests.

Among those requests is Raiders defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham.

The Raiders knew Graham would be in demand this offseason. He is highly respected in NFL circles and led one of the better defensive units in the league the past couple seasons.

Even with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce saying he sees no changes on the Raiders coaching staff next season, he added the caveat that Graham could be poached for a head coaching job.

Patrick’s a very sharp, obviously intellectual individual,” said Pierce. “Going to be a head coach in this league. He’s been a really good coordinator for us for three years, and we’ll see what happens this offseason.”

There are several job openings this offseason, so the Jaguars job may not be the only one we hear about with interest in Graham.

Bengals’ first defensive coordinator interview revealed

The Bengals have their first DC target set for an interview.

The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t wasting any time getting interviews lined up for the defensive coordinator position after firing Lou Anarumo.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bengals will interview Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham for the same position on Tuesday.

Graham, 45, is one of the candidates mentioned for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job, but his contract with the Raiders is up and he’s free to interview for other coordinator jobs now.

Prior to his stint with the Raiders, Graham served as a position coach, run game coordinator, and assistant head coach at various stops.

This is the first of what could be a handful of interviews for the Bengals, especially with so many big-name candidates out there.

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Confident Antonio Pierce sees no changes on Raiders coaching staff

Antonio Pierce sure sounds like he’s keeping his job and wants to run it back with the same coaching staff.

It seemed very possible that when Antonio Pierce took to the podium Sunday night after the Raiders lost their 13th game of the season to the Los Angeles Chargers, that it could be the last time he appeared before the media as Raiders head coach.

At the time, the Raiders had his usual press conference scheduled for Monday morning, but, obviously, if he were not retained as head coach, that press conference wouldn’t happen.

In that vein, the first, best sign for Pierce’s future as Raiders head coach was that the press conference did take place at all.

Monday morning, the embattled Pierce stepped behind the podium at the Raiders facility in Henderson Nevada not looking at all like a coach who was worried about his job.

The former NFL linebacker who grew up a Raiders fan in Los Angeles was sporting a vintage looking Raiders Starter jacket and appeared relaxed and ready to head into his second offseason as Raiders head coach.

Right away, he didn’t give his recent usual response of “no comment” to the inevitable questions about his job status, stating that he hadn’t been told anything different. And that the noise was all coming from outside the building, not inside of it. Seemingly calling back to a couple weeks ago when he said all of his conversations with owner Mark Davis had been positive.

From there, he was asked if he anticipated any coaching change. To which he said flatly “No.”

As the head coach of the team, that answer would seem to apply to him as well. And his answer would also suggest he expects to continue to be the one making those decisions.

Pierce had made some changes on the offensive staff earlier in the season, with the most notable firings being offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and offensive line coach James Cregg. To replace them he made Passing Game Coordinator Scott Turner interim OC and Joe Philbin interim OL coach.

He will have to make a decision on whether to keep Turner and Philbin in those positions or to move them back to their previous jobs and bring in someone from the outside.

The one caveat here could be Patrick Graham, who Pierce said he would like to have back, but added “we’ll see what happens this offseason” due to the fact that Graham could potentially receive outside interest.

But that decision would be out of his hands. If it’s up to Pierce, he is staying along with his entire current staff and running it back next year.

‘They can run run’: Raiders DC discusses preparing for Dolphins speed on offense

The Raiders know they will be dealing with serious speed vs the Dolphins week 11. They will set out to keep from getting burnt.

This season, the Raiders have seen a lot of opposing teams run away with games. With their trip to Miami this week, they will be trying to stop the Dolphins players from literally running away from them.

“One, you’ve got to be able to find a way to match up with their speed,” said Raiders DC Patrick Graham. “Whether it’s staying on top, whether it’s to run with them, you’ve got to figure out a way. There’s true speed out there on the field at a number of positions.”

The main focus in terms of speed will be wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Both of whom are established burners who are electric with or without the ball in their hands.

For the Raiders, it will be hoping that they have enough speed on defense to match up with them.

“There’s several guys that we got on the defense that can run,” Graham continued. “Now, I’m not saying I want to line up and do a foot race with anybody from Miami. These guys can run run. When I say true speed I mean true speed out there on the field. And it’s not limited to [Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle].

“So, for us as a defensive staff, we’ve got to figure out the best way to deploy the defense and try to keep this speed under control a little bit. Take away the space, staying on top, things of that nature. Jakorian [Bennett] in terms of Jakorian and Jack [Jones]. All of our defensive backs. We got guys that can run too, so it’s going to be a fun game in terms of just being able to challenge ourselves. I think that’s the big thing for the players. It’s a good challenge.”

When Graham mentions that the Dolphins’ speed is not limited to Hill and Waddle, he is thinking primarily of running back De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert. And you could throw QB Tua Tagovailoa in there as well.

In other words, the Dolphins have many different ways they can beat you.

Al Davis was all about speed on both sides of the ball. But the classic Raiders were also all about hard nosed football. For the Raiders, if they can’t match their speed, they must outplay them in physicality.

“One thing Flo (Brian Flores) used to always say ‘You can’t ever forget about the physicality of this game,” Graham continued. “I don’t care how fast it looks, how much they try to make it — whether it’s run and shoot, whether it’s whatever they want to call the different offenses — NFL football is a physical game, especially as you start to move into November and you’re starting to ramp up into after Thanksgiving. You can’t ever forget the physicality of the game.”

So, it will be important for the Raiders to remind the Dolphins this is a physical game. However they need to do that.