Although Rich Bisaccia has steadied the ship amid a rough season, he does not have the smoothest road to becoming the next full-time Raiders HC. The Raiders will conduct a true search, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link), unlike the token 2018 process that ended with a quick Jon Gruden hire.
Bisaccia will improve his chances to take over with a win Saturday, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk indeed notes the previous Las Vegas special teams coordinator has elevated his stock in recent weeks. An upset win over the Bengals — which would double as the Raiders’ first playoff win since the 2002 AFC championship game — may not be enough for the current interim HC.
Regardless of what happens Saturday, Bisaccia will be interviewed for the full-time gig. However, he is not expected to be the favorite, per Rapoport. A loss today will likely doom Bisaccia’s chances as well. The Raiders rallied by winning their final four games to reach the playoffs, but they did finish with a minus-65 point differential — largely on two Bisaccia-helmed blowout losses to the Chiefs — en route to the AFC’s No. 5 seed. The Raiders will not go through interviews until their seasons ends, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Jim Harbaugh, who started his coaching career with the Raiders as QBs coach on that 2002 Super Bowl-qualifying squad, has been linked as a frontrunner. But the Michigan HC appears in NFL rumors annually only to remain at the Big Ten program. This does represent the closest Harbaugh link to the league since he left for Ann Arbor, and given the Raiders’ interest in the ex-49ers HC back before they hired Jack Del Rio, this is obviously a scenario to monitor closely.
Bisaccia, 61, has been an NFL coach since 2002. He does have extensive ties to Gruden, having coached with the since-resigned HC throughout his Tampa Bay tenure and during his three-plus years back running the Raiders. It would be interesting to see Mark Davis commit to a career special teams coach who was one of Gruden’s right-hand men, but he will at least be part of the search.
He at the very least deserves an award for what he’s weathered.
I’m not sure how much two blowout losses to the Chiefs should be counted against him. The Chiefs are way more deep and talented than the Raiders, and that’s not Bissacia’s fault at all.
Honestly it all comes down to this: if they don’t retain Bissacia it should primarily be because they truly want to start fresh and erase any and all connections to the Gruden era. That might not be entirely fair to Bissacia, but it would be understandable IMO. Because Bisaccia really has done just about everything he could have done (save for beating the Chiefs) to win his audition.
Idk, can you really buy Bissacia being around Gruden so long without having similar skeletons in his closet?
Last thing the Raiders need is another mess.
“Idk, can you really buy Bissacia being around Gruden so long without having similar skeletons in his closet?”
Uhh… yeah? They aren’t the same person. By every account, Gruden hid his beliefs from his players and co-workers. It’s not really fair to deem Basaccia guilty just because he was associated with him.
Is it too much to ask that Rich goes back to assistant head coach/special teams coordinator under Harbaugh? I’d like to see Olsen go and Bradley stay if I had my way
Excellent question. And Olsen has been good, no?
I think Olsen has been the glue honestly that’s kept it together
Too many instant check downs to be respected. He had his chance to shine after Gruden left and didn’t do much with it.
I watch half the games. The thing that drove me nuts about Olsen play calling, was it would be 3rd and 3 and they go for 20… They do that constantly. Just get the first down and work on the next series. It’s like the one time the check down should be good to go but they don’t do it. Flip the script.That’s what I have respected about Brady, he gets the short pass as well as the deep.
Fire everyone and get rid of Carr.
Insightful. Really, tremendous planning there.
I seriously get so annoyed by the “get rid of Carr” comments. Like, why? The dude is a good QB. He’s a leader.
I’d keep everyone and, you know, maybe add a little to the secondary and get a WR to replace Ruggs. Small things to build off a playoff appearance seems far more logical than shaking one’s fist and yelling, “Fire everyone”.
Sounds like a reasonable plan. I think I would also look to target the offensive line a bit as well if I were the Raiders.
Honestly, if everyone on here had their way, every quarterback who isn’t in the top ten would he shipped to the curb at the end of each season. The impatience is absurd sometimes; especially when you consider that Carr is probably a slightly above average signal caller overall
Carr doesn’t have it. Winning a few come back games during regular season and still going 6-10 yearly does little. Carr makes bad reads at timely crucial moments just like today forcing the ball to the triple covered zay Jones. He’s a game manager with the upside of more but unless they higher and offensive dynamo I doubt anyone unlocks more than what Carr already is. A good not great qb.
The safest bet is hire harbaugh and build a stronger roster. Bridge Carr into your next franchise qb in the draft.
1. 10 > 6
2. Drafting a quarterback in an already weak class and improving the roster is nearly impossible to do simultaneously unless you make some regrettable free agent signings
3. If Carr has the upside you say he does, how can he also “not have it.” Those statements seem to contradict themselves
Never said draft a qb in 2022 draft lol, last time I checked Carr has 1 more year. You build a strong team with the draft and evaluate Carr, 2023 is the year you draft the qb with a new coach and possible gm. 2023 and 2024 will have excellent qbs like Bryce young and Caleb Williams and many others.
Carr is 56-70 overall as a qb, and has lead league in fumbles 2 times including this year. Only been a top 10 qb statistically 2 times in 6/7 years.
In that case, drafting someone in the far future if Carr doesn’t pan out would make sense. I thought you were referring to this upcoming draft, but I stand corrected.
However, the stat about Carr only being top ten statistically 2/7 years is cherry-picked given that he has been top ten statistically 2 of the last 3 years, indicating improvement. Also, QB fumbles is more of an indictment of the offensive line, if anything
If he’s so good where are all of those playoff wins? He hasn’t played the same since he broke his leg, he’s scared. This season started with him playing well again and then he flailed as usual. Sure Leatherwood and the rest of the O-Line is suspect, but c’mon. He is starting a new statistic of % of passes thrown away.
But yeah, he’s great…
What’s your solution then? Liquefy the entire roster? Trade all of their future assets for Wilson/Watson? Believe it or not, postseason wins depend on players other than the QB to also play well.
Is Carr perfect? No, but given the dearth of available options, they would be better off attempting to maximize his potential
He’s had 6-7 years to do something, anything and hasn’t. I would fire all coaches (maybe keep Bradley but the defense is garbage too), trade Waller for draft picks, trade Carr for anything really and sign Rodgers for a year. Draft a QB this year or next and build around Jacobs and Renfroe. Build the O-Line and secondary through a non-Gruden/Mayock horrible draft and have a decent team in 2 years.
Seriously start over.
Why would Aaron Rodgers want to go to this team if we’re effectively rebuilding in this hypothetical scenario?
There’s no such thing as a good team that’s a QB away from greatness. It’s almost impossible for him to go to a better team than the Packers, so why not the Raiders?
Because there are better situations out there right now. You don’t think there will be a bidding war for Rodgers if he becomes a free agent/reaches the trading block? Obviously there might be a chance they lure him in, but I wouldn’t exactly bank on it to the point where I center my offseason around it
Harbaugh or bust. He’s Carr’s last chance. But whoever is GM needs to start looking for a new QB for a year or two from now if not sooner.
Rodgers is an upgrade and Carr doesn’t go anywhere without him obviously. Where’s the better situations out there, Detroit?
Assuming we’re getting rid of Waller, there’s Denver, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Miami, possibly even Indianapolis if we’re taking Ballard seriously.
Not saying all of those situations are necessarily better, but they add to the layer of challenge in acquiring him
Yeah, exactly. Pittsburgh and Denver are a QB away from Championship contention today. Making the entire Raider team worse to acquire Rodgers does nothing for Vegas, and I can’t imagine would make it appealing to Rodgers.
The Carr bashers act as if Rodgers wins Vegas a SB without help. Honest question to them: if Rodgers was traded to the Lions, would you rank the Lions as SB contenders? If you can’t answer that with a “yes”, your argument is flawed.
Starting over after finally making the playoffs? I’m glad you’re not in charge of a professional team, Bill-Bellamy, because you would be terrible at it.
Making the playoffs twice isn’t doing “something, anything?”
Let’s see, 1st and goal at the 1—Nope..Holding #70
1st down–Nope–Holding #68
1st down–Whoops–Holding #76. 2 clutch drives to give us a chance in 4 minutes= Herbert is the Goat!; or, if you’re an idiot—“Carr is scared.”
6 comeback wins in a season= “doing nothing.”
4 Straight to make the playoffs with an 8-8 roster after losing 2 more 1st round picks= “doing nothing.”
Dude, stop assessing football by what NFL pundits are paid to say/told which player’s jerseys to push and what fellow morons on twitter tell you to regurgitate. Or, you can go root for the Chargers, where you’ll fit right in.
Waller missed time with injuries and Covid protocol, and there was the tragic incident with Ruggs… Those were two targets gone. You don’t think that impacted Carr as the season progressed?
Also, to say, “Sure Leatherwood and the rest of the O-Line is suspect”, but then try to spin that on Carr works against your argument. How many QBs are “great” without protection? Of course he’s going to throw passes away, it’s the smart play. It’s better than forcing interceptions.
No, he’s not scared. He’s played on some truly awful teams. That’s why he doesn’t have playoff wins. This was his first game, and if Cincy didn’t get a free 7pts off that blown whistle call he might be 1-0.
Actually many qbs have suspect lines but make better decisions with the ball. Wilson hasn’t had a good line in like 5/6 years and his stats are still far superior to carr. Carr is 56-70 as a starter. Kc has only been good the last 3/4 years so whats the excuse?
Broncos and chargers have both been average to below average teams since carr arrival.
Both brees and rodgers have had some of the worst teams in terms of talent to go on and win at least 1 game in playoffs with. The year rodgers won they were a wild card going 10-6 with suspect defense
@immindless- Wilson had a lower PFF grade than Carr this season, and deservedly so. As someone who saw all 17 games the Seahawks played this season (12 started by Wilson), he was not a great decision-maker and probably deserved to have double digits INTs. I actually think PFF was very kind to him to suggest he was “good” this season.
1 season has russel Wilson posted a qbr lower than Carr and that was last season coming off a thumb injury. You are delusional if you think carr is in the same stratosphere and the statistics support this. Russell rating has consistently been between 100-110 outside of 2 years when he was 95. Carr on the other hand has been on ranked 100 the past two season this season he regressed back to average of 93 this season. His qbr was also lower than Wilson abnormal year according football reference. Wilson qbr 53.2 Carr 52.7
Why are you worried about 3-5 years ago when assessing Carr current season/future? I don’t care about any year other than 2021. I’m replying with 2021 statistics because you stated Wilson’s stats were FAR SUPERIOR to Carr’s which is either hyperbole or incorrect. Russell Wilson is aging and maybe regressing, but in reality, I was just adding my two cents to information I felt to be factually incorrect.
Again, you’re using basic stats to analyze both their situations, but given the skills players around both, Carr outperformed Wilson based on PFF rating, which is much more reliable for gauging a QB’s performance than QB rating when one QB has DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Gerald Everett and the other has Hunter Renfrow as his WR1.
1. If we’re evaluating Carr over the past 3-4 years, then we would almost certainly have to factor in KC being a powerhouse. Also bear in mind that before that happened, the Broncos were among the league’s best teams as well.
2. Derek Carr and Russell Wilson posted near identical QBRs this season.
3. The 2010 Packers allowed the second fewest points in the league that season, so I would consider the defense a bit better than “suspect.”
4. I’m not pretending Carr is prime Rodgers or Brees. Obviously he can’t just will a team to the postseason the way they can/could. However, he certainly elevated this team above their talent level this season given the distractions, various injuries, and suspect secondary/offensive line. So long as LV is not paying him an exorbitant amount, that’s at least adequate
Imindless, you’d make a great argument if it wasn’t factually incorrect. As myaccount2 pointed out, Wilson was rated below Carr this year. He’s also played in the same system for the entirety of it. Carr has had how many coaches? How many new offenses? Also, W/L record for a QB is a meaningless stat. 53 men on a roster, most seeing the field… an awful lot influences records.
“KC has only been good 3-4 years”, as you say- which is half of Carr’s career.
The Broncos have not been an average to below average team. Uh… They won a SB with Manning in that time. They consistently have great defense. They’d be a SB threat this season if they had had a QB.
Brees and Rodgers are a different level. Everyone doesn’t get a Brees or Rodgers. If you were to get Rodgers, you’re giving up your future. You get a little better at QB, and a whole lot worse overall.
When was that that Broncos went to Superbowl? 2015 that’s irrelevant since Manning hasn’t played since then also Manning’s last season he was horrible and was unseated by some guy named Brock. We are talking 2016-2022. 2 playoff appearances.
Why is that irrelevant? It’s irrelevant to you because you’re cherry picking timeframes. Carr was drafted in 2014, Broncos won in ’15. That’s one year of Carr’s career. The Bronco team didn’t fall off a cliff after that either, just the QB play.
Yeah, Manning’s last season was pretty horrible. Denver still won the Superbowl though, indicating they were a powerhouse. In 2016, the Raiders won 12 games and Carr didn’t have a chance to do anything in the postseason due to an injury. Every season since, the Chiefs have had double digit wins.
Also if 2014-2015 “doesn’t matter,” I guess Carr’s overall win-loss record is more like .500. See how that works?
Irrelevant?! You just used the entirety of Carr and Wilson’s careers to cherry-pick information that supports your point hahaha
Everybody else has toasted you so I think I’ll just leave this alone now.
Question: if the Raiders don’t hire him as their HC do you see anyone hiring him to be their HC?
Point: never hire a guy who no other team would hire for the same position
Why?
If you see something in someone, why does it matter what anyone elses sees or does?
Saying to yourself, “Well that team wouldn’t hire him, so I best not”, puts everyone in the same box. There’s more than one blueprint, and teams have different feels to them.
Coach B did a good job. I’m not saying sign the guy for 10yrs/100m, but a 3yr deal to try to keep the momentum going for a guy that did a good job under tough circumstances seems reasonable.
jessaumodesto is suggesting that the way to success is to be a herd follower but that risk adverse approach rarely succeeds.
Jim Tomsula?
Yeah, Tomsula was Baalke’s bid to prove that he could genius his way to the playoffs as a GM with a puppet coach, but he forgot that he’s actually a terrible GM and that approach doesn’t work anyway.
But hey, he snaked his way into the Jacksonville job despite the unanimous reports of his incompetence, so maybe he is a genius.
Carr is a top ten QB. The only two guys better than him that make less money are burrow and Herbert. And neither is coming to the S&B. That being said we’d have to dump significant resources (draft capital and contracts) to upgrade QBs. Rodgers, Wilson and Watson don’t make the team Super Bowl winners as the roster is currently constructed. How many QBs not named Tom Brady have won the super bowl not on their rookie contract. The answer is not many. I’d be willing to bet cincinnati’s championship window is only the next five or so years until burrow and chase are up for record setting extensions.
The problem for Carr the last 10+ weeks is there’s no legit #1 receiver. The red zone offense sucks because there’s no one other than Waller to throw the ball up to and defenses know that. If we had Jamar Chase, that last series is completely different.
And I agree about Bissaccia- he’s not going to be a head coach anywhere else, as much as I admire the job he did.
I’d take a hard look at Brian Callahan, the Bengals OC, whom Gruden hired as QBs coach before he left to become the Bengals OC.
Point being, if he is ready (and I have no idea if he is—he’s 37 yrs old) then schematically, not a lot would need to change unless he has an idea of changing the defensive scheme.
Another guy I’d consider is Matt Eberflus the Colts DC who has produced top defenses at every coaching stop with less-than-elite talent on board. Emphasis–“consider.”
I’m intrigued by Brian Flores, who strikes me as one of those guys you could hire and stand with for the next 10 or so years (Tomlin–Payton–Carroll–Belichick-like). A lot of my interest in him would be contingent on his plan for offense, because he burned through 4 OCs in 3 seasons.
Not a fan of hiring Jim Harbaugh, because he comes in like fire and seems to burn everyone from the front office to the players out in 3-4 seasons everywhere he’s been (including college).
I see many fans saying Bradley’s defense is garbage, but they must be watching ESPN instead of the games, I think. Give this scheme an impact player at the LB and Secondary level, solidify the DT spots and watch.
The good news is that Denzelle Good will return next season, which means Leatherwood can go sit on the bench as a backup and we can find a RT to send Parker back to the bench as a backup, which sounds like a pretty solid offensive line plan to me.
Of course, we need an impact player at WR, and I’d prefer to find him in the draft so we can use him without breaking the bank for several seasons rather than dumping cash on an established guy which hampers our ability to fill out the rest of the team.
I’m more realistic than many Raiders fans because I’m old and don’t get my football knowledge from Madden franchise mode and “NFL insiders” pushing agent rumors to maximize client incomes—so, the draft misses aren’t as big of an issue with me as for them because I know the facts—which are that about 1/3rd of NFL 1st round picks hit (for the slow people, that means 66.7% of 1st round picks never live up to their draft position historically). The rest were either busts or over-drafted, and if you go look at every NFL teams draft history you’ll see that a 50% hit rate in the entirety of the draft qualifies a GM as “genius.” For example, I’ve seen Raiders fan pushing for John Dorsey to supplant Mayock as GM because….well…who knows why exactly, there are no facts to point to in suggesting Dorsey for GM—, which tells me that they’ve never looked at Dorsey’s draft classes. If you think Mayock’s picks have been bad, go have a look at Dorsey’s. Mayock’s ability (or his scout’s ability rather) to find late-round producers is the most impressive part of his tenure, along with some quality free agent acquisitions (FInally!). If not for the complete disaster of the 2020 class (Ruggs–Arnette–Bowden Jr.–Muse–SImpson—UGHH) then Mayock would be considered near the top right now. There’s a reason NFL GMs spent a lot of time on the phone with Mayock during the draft when he was still working at NFL network.
I could see Davis standing pat out of loyalty, but I don’t think Bisaccia is a HC and I don’t want anyone else on staff in that spot either. There’s enough talent on this roster that a few tweaks here and there at positions of need, and perhaps schematically (the offense works, but I’d prefer a younger guy who has this scheme locked down and has added some wrinkles the way the better young offensive guys who run it have—Taylor–Stefanski–Lafluer–McVay, Callahan, Hackett, etc.). I’d like to keep the staff and add a HC with similar philosophy who can tweak things and improve the play-calling.
This a comment that won’t get many reads because of its length, but I loved and applaud everything you said. Granted, I’m not a Raiders fan, but I agree with your points entirely. Well, I’m not so bullish just yet on Callahan (I’d rather see a little more), and I’m more hesitant on Flores (especially working with any established GM who is not on the same page as himself subordinate), but otherwise I do agree. Good post.