Tag: raiders offensive coordinator candidates

Raiders quickly move on at OC, near deal to hire former Bears OC Luke Getsy

Raiders quickly move on at OC, near deal to hire former Bears OC Luke Getsy

It didn’t take long for the Raiders to move on from their deal with Kliff Kingsbury falling apart. Hours after realizing Kingsbury would not be taking the offensive coordinator job in Las Vegas, the Raiders are now reportedly working on a deal with former Bears OC Luke Getsy.

Getsy among just three candidates who had interviewed for the job with the Raiders along with UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and Steelers QB coach Mike Sullivan.

While Getsy was just recently fired by the Bears, he is the only of the three interviewed candidates who has recent offensive coordinator experience.

One of the interesting dynamics here is what this could mean for the possibility of the Raiders going after Justin Fields. Getsy was fired because he couldn’t make an offense led by Fields work at a high level. If the Raiders believe Getsy is worth hiring as their OC, it would seem they think the issue was Fields, not Getsy.

Another interesting tidbit is Getsy spent seven seasons in Green Bay, joining the team in 2014 — the same year Davante Adams was drafted. Two of those years he was wide receivers coach and another couple years he was passing game coordinator. So, yeah, the two of them are quite well acquainted.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves as we did when Kliff Kingsbury was also “expected” to be the Raiders next OC. Though usually when that word is used, it actually does happen.

Raiders expected to name Kliff Kingsbury offensive coordinator

Kliff Kingsbury was expected to take the Raiders offensive coordinator job until he wasn’t

It looks like the Raiders have their choice for offensive coordinator. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter the Raiders are expected to name USC assistant Kliff Kingsbury their next OC.

Kingsbury is most well known for his “Air Raid” offense, which he ran as head coach at Texas Tech, and leading to Patrick Mahomes becoming a top ten NFL draft pick. That also means Mahomes will face his former head coach twice a year.

Kingsbury took the Cardinals job in in 2019 and spent four years in Arizona, but just once finishing with a winning record (11-6 in 2020). Two of those four year, the Cardinals offense was ranked in the top ten (2020-21).

Though Kingsbury called all the plays in Arizona, this will be the first time in Kinsbury’s career he’s been an offensive coordinator at the NFL level. The last time he commanded the offense alone was his first year at Texas Tech in 2012. Prior to that he was the OC for University of Houston for two seasons.

UPDATE: Schefter is now reporting that Kingsbury has withdrawn his name from consideration for the job.

Former Browns OC Alex Van Pelt takes same job with Patriots

Another of Raiders OC candidates is off the market.

There is seemingly a short list of hot names for open coordinator spots across the league right now. One of those names was former Browns OC Alex Van Pelt. The longtime OC and former QB coach has been hired onto Jerod Mayo’s staff in New England.

Van Pelt was among several OC candidates who the Raiders interviewed recently.

Other who have been hired elsewhere include Zac Robinson (Falcons OC), and Dan Pitcher (Bengals OC).

Those who have interviewed who are still out there include former Bears OC Luke Getsy, Steelers QB coach Mike Sullivan, Buccaneers QB coach Thad Lewis. and USC assistant Kliff Kingsbury.

They are said to also have interest in 49ers passing game specialist Klint Kubiac and the longer they wait to name an OC, the more it would appear they could be waiting to see if they can get Kubiac following the Super Bowl. Not the worst idea.

Raiders request interview with Buccaneers QB coach Thad Lewis

Raiders request interview with Buccaneers QB coach Thad Lewis

The success of the Buccaneers this season has caused a lot of other teams to take notice. And it’s leading to the expected poaching of their coaches. Mostly from the offensive side of the ball, where they shocked the NFL with journeyman Baker Mayfield at quarterback, making it all the way to the Divisional Round before just falling short to a tough Lions team.

Friday the Panthers nabbed Bucs OC Dave Canales as their new head coach. A short time later, news broke via the Tampa Bay Times that the Raiders have requested an interview with QB coach Thad Lewis.

The Raiders have several interviews lined up this week to fill their offensive coordinator position on the staff after a disappointing season under former head coach Josh McDaniels, OC Mick Lombardi, and then interim OC Bo Hardegree.

And like many Raiders hires of late — including head coach Antonio Pierce — Lewis is a former NFL player.

While the Bucs offense was just 20th in points and 23rd in yards, Mayfield had easily his best season, passing for 4044 yards with 28 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. You can see how a lot of teams would want that for their quarterbacks in their offense.

GM Tom Telesco, HC Antonio Pierce detail what Raiders are looking for in an OC

GM Tom Telesco, HC Antonio Pierce detail what Raiders are looking for in an OC

Two weeks into the Raiders’ offseason and they officially have their head coach and general manager in place. The Raiders retained interim head coach Antonio Pierce and hired former Chargers longtime GM Tom Telesco to the GM job.

The two of them took to the podium Wednesday to be officially introduced and take questions from the media.

One burning question involves the next step for the Raiders now that the head coach and GM are in place. That’s what they are looking for in an offensive coordinator.

“Minimum 24 points,” Antonio Pierce said with a laugh.

Though that was a bit of a wink and a nod to the fact that the Raiders didn’t score more than 20 points over the first eight games last season with Josh McDaniels and Mick Lombardi in charge of the offense.

“I don’t think everybody’s meant to be for the Raiders,” Pierce continued. “I don’t think everybody’s meant to play for the Raiders or coach for the Raiders. I think that’s going to be something I really dig into as we go into that process.”

That process is starting immediately as the Raiders have several offensive coordinator interviews lined up this week.

Pierce mocked the assumption that he simply “wants to run the ball.”

“No, AP just wants to run a style of football. It’s the approach. It’s being a teacher. It’s being somebody that can stand in this room and the men who are looking at him like you’re looking at me that they believe in the plan and the process and they are a teacher and they can adjust on the fly. Because that’s what this game is all about.

“Style of play? I think that’s all going to vary. There’s a lot that goes into it. We know that we have some positions on our roster that we need to look at and be evaluated more. With Tom and myself as we go forward. But you know what you see in the National Football League. You’ve got to be able to run the football, play action pass, and what are the Raiders known for? The vertical passing game. So, we want to see the shots down the field. We want the explosive plays. So, that has to be a part of it. The creativity — the shifts, the motions — all that stuff goes into it.”

Then it was Telesco’s turn to answer. He first said “I’ll just go with his answer.” Then he elaborated. Sort of.

“One thing I talked about in the interview is you want to have an identity,” said Telesco. “The Raiders have an identity on offense. It’s speed and get the ball downfield. So, that’s definitely going to be a part of that. But there’s more that goes along with that. We have to run the ball when we have to run it and play action pass, but we’ll find the right offensive coordinator that’s going to fit this team.”

It sounds a lot like the style of play will be largely dependent upon what they hear from the OC’s they speak with along with the strengths of the team.

The most telling statements came from Pierce which were 1. Ability to get players to buy in. 2. Style will vary based on players on the field. And 3. Ability to adjust on the fly.

Last season they were unable to do a lot of what they wanted to do because they simply didn’t have the talent at quarterback to get it done. First with Jimmy Garoppolo and then with Aidan O’Connell.

So, obviously getting a talented quarterback in there will go a long way.

Raiders OC interview tracker

Raiders OC interview tracker

Things have heated up for the Raiders in their search for their next offensive coordinator. Including Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt who will interview with the team this week according to NFL media’s Tom Pelissero.

Van Pelt has been the offensive coordinator in Cleveland the past four seasons. Prior to that he was the QB coach in Cincinnati and Green Bay before that.

There has been additional coaches scheduled since the Van Pelt news.

Here is the full list of Raiders reported offensive coordinator interviews so far:

Rams passing coordinator Zac Robinson (report) UPDATE: Robinson hired as Falcons OC

Bengals QB coach Dan Pitcher (report) UPDATE: Pitcher hired as Bengals OC

Bears former OC Luke Getsy (report) UPDATE: Nearing deal to become Raiders OC (report)

Browns OC Alex Van Pelt UPDATE: Van Pelt hired as Patriots OC

Steelers QB coach Mike Sullivan (report)

Buccaneers QB coach Thad Lewis (report)

USC OC Kliff Kingsbury (report) UPDATE: Kingsbury is expected to be named Raiders OC. UPDATE 2.0: Kingsbury withdraws his name from consideration.

49ers Passing game specialist Klint Kubiac (report)

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly (report)

Antonio Pierce’s first priority as recently named head coach will be landing a solid offensive coordinator. So, this process is of utmost importance.

Presumably the team would like to get a GM in place as well, perhaps even in time to be in the room for these interviews. If so, they’d have to make their decision quickly because these coach candidates are on the schedule for this week.

Raiders request interview with Rams passing coordinator Zac Robinson for OC job

Raiders request interview with Rams passing coordinator Zac Robinson for OC job

Antonio Pierce is in place as Raiders head coach, which means the job of filling out his staff begins post haste. The top priority is that of offensive coordinator. And today the Raiders put in a request for one of the top candidates out there right now — Rams passing game coordinator Zac Robinson.

As Breer noted, the Raiders will have competition to land Robinson. The Steelers and Patriots are also looking to hold an interview with him.

Robinson was also reportedly in the running for the Bears’ open OC job before they went with Shane Waldron.

Robinson has worked his way up the ranks with the Rams over the past five seasons. He was the team’s assistant QB coach when they won the Super Bowl in 2021.

He spent four seasons in the NFL from 2010-13. A Patriots seventh round pick in 2010, he failed to make the team and was signed by the Seahawks and Lions that year. His final three seasons were spent in Cincinnati, but never played in a game for the Bengals.