Firing defense-minded head coaches in back-to-back years, the Raiders would presumably be more interested in going in another direction during this year’s cycle. Teams regularly take this route after a hire does not work out, and it indeed looks like Las Vegas wants to go offense with its 2026 HC appointment.
The Raiders want to pair an offense-oriented coach with likely No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, veteran insider Jordan Schultz notes. The team may also be willing to wait on this weekend’s conference championship games or perhaps through Super Bowl LX.
Klint Kubiak and Davis Webb both interviewed for the Raiders’ HC position, doing so virtually. The Broncos and Seahawks’ bye weeks allowed for their assistants to discuss jobs early, and Schultz adds both look to have made good impressions. Each remains in the running, and while Jesse Minter appears to be a live candidate as well, he may be fighting an uphill battle due to where the Raiders are aiming.
The team canned Antonio Pierce a year after removing his interim tag. After an aggressive Ben Johnson pursuit fell short, the Raiders veered about as far in the opposite direction as possible by hiring Pete Carroll, who became the oldest HC in NFL history this season. Carroll finished 3-14, edging a disinterested Chiefs team in Week 18 to avoid a two-win campaign. The Raiders hold the No. 1 pick as a result of Carroll’s performance, giving his replacement a silver lining as the organization retools yet again.
Mendoza holds the honor of spearheading one of the great stories in modern college football history, with non-traditional power Indiana emerging to go 16-0 and win the national championship on the back of its Heisman-winning quarterback. He is expected to be the Raiders’ No. 1 pick, as the franchise has taken a few unsuccessful swings at QB since releasing Derek Carr in 2023. To avoid having Mendoza lose his play-caller — granted, this has not been an issue for the Raiders in a long time — to another HC job, the Silver and Black could pair him with an offense-geared leader from the start.
It would seem a bit early on Webb, but the Broncos’ QBs coach is impressing in interviews. The 30-year-old assistant has garnered interest for second interviews, and this report certainly points to the Raiders being interested in a follow-up meeting. Should Denver pull an upset and edge New England without Bo Nix, Webb’s stock could skyrocket ahead of Super Bowl LX. The Raiders cannot interview him again until the Broncos are eliminated.
The same rules are in place with Kubiak, the first year Seahawks OC. Kubiak has yet to run the same team’s offense in consecutive seasons, but he certainly would be asked back in Seattle if not hired by a team this year. While Sam Darnold finished just 19th in QBR, the Seahawks went 14-3 and saw Jaxon Smith-Njigba lead the NFL in receiving. Kubiak, 39 next month, would give the Raiders access to a Shanahan-style attack, as the second-generation coach was on the 49ers’ staff previously and grew up observing his father (Gary) and Mike Shanahan‘s similar offensive approaches.
Webb remains in the running for the Ravens’ HC job, while the Bills have him on their radar as well. Kubiak interviewed with the Cardinals and Ravens while also emerging early as a potential Bills candidate. Joe Brady, Nate Scheelhaase, Mike LaFleur and Klint’s brother Klay — the 49ers’ OC — are the other offensive candidates to interview for the Vegas job.
It doesn’t matter what Mark does; he’s an incompetent owner that free loads off the NFL & Vegas paying for his stadium. Another ‘poor billionaire.’ excuse.
NFL nor Vegas paid for the stadium genius. The NFL gave them a loan and Vegas used hotel taxes. What’s your excuse?
Correction…the Nevada taxpayers paid for $750 million of public funds towards Alliant Stadium for a team they didn’t want…yes the money was collected through the hotel tax, but it was still public funding. Taxes that the school systems in Nevada dearly need went to fund a billionaire and his stadium….the total cost to Clark County in long term debt is 1.3 billion…so NO the NFL did NOT loan Mark Davis money…the taxpayers did….and now MLB wants to force them to do it again when John Fisher moves the A’s there in 2028….
This is the shell game approach billionaire owners use in getting funding for their palaces these days. One way or the other, the taxpayer and fan pays the cost. The public will moan for a while but eventually, the owners will get what they want
That $750M was from a hotel tax paid by tourists, not by taxpayers.
The events at Allegiant have been hugely successful to include the NFL Draft, Superbowl, soccer games, college football, WWF, etc. Alot of money was brought into the city from these events. See the link provided.
On a side note, the school district has plenty of funding. It’s a bloated bureaucracy beholden to unions, and doesn’t hold parents accountable for not being involved in kids education. Not being involved, not caring if your kid even goes to school, or not speaking English, costs all of us more money.
link to sportsbusinessjournal.com).
He’s a terrible owner, but Kahn is a terrible owner too and finally got it right last year. Maybe he’ll fall backwards into it somehow.
Tom Brady is the problem, not Mark Davis. Since Brady put money into the club 2 years ago the Raiders have had 2 of their worst seasons in history.
I don’t see that. Correlation doesn’t equal causation. Who knows when Brady had any say in operations? It’s clear now Davis will step back and let his football people finally run the show, instead of thinking he knows the NFL because daddy owned the team
From google: Since taking over the Raiders in 2011, Mark Davis’ tenure has been marked by significant losing, with a combined regular season record of roughly 90-130+ through early 2025, only a couple of winning seasons, and frequent coaching changes, leading to low rankings among NFL owners despite the team’s move to Las Vegas and new stadium
Try basic research.
The Davis family didn’t come from money, their money has come from football.
Seems like it would be a bad idea for Webb to take the job even if it were offered. He’s 31 (well, tomorrow he is), he’s only been coaching for three years, and everybody thinks he’s a future head coach. If you’re going to rush into the job, why do it in a place that has holes all over the roster and fires coaches at a faster rate than any team in the league?
Webb would get Mendoza so he has his quarterback. Webb would be starting with a 3-14 team so there’s room for steady improvement:
5-12
8-9
10-6
With gradual but steady improvement, Webb would have time to get his sea legs as a first-time head coach. Maybe Brady, who knows something about leading a first-rate team, could drop in more often to coach Webb on leadership, structure and preparation.
You’re not entirely fair to the Raiders either. Jon Gruden was there for the long haul before Goodell deliberately dropped the email bomb to ruin Gruden and destroy the Raiders.
I was none too keen on Gruden’s on-again, off-again relationship with Derek Carr (either the coach wants him for QB or he doesn’t). But otherwise Gruden was making progress in the three years he was there.
Kubiak or Mintor would be good hires. Davis Webb would be the same mistake they made 20 years ago of pairing a rookie QB with a guy with no NFL experience.
Yeah Kubiak should be the pick. Need a good Offensive mind to develop Mendoza. Id Consider Dabol too.
Can anyone explain the interest in Nate Sheelhaase beyond being young and having, on multiple occasions, been in the same building as Sean McVay?
I hear the Cards are trying to interview the kid who cuts Kyle Shannahan’s lawn for their HC opening.
Look at the track record. LaFleur, Coen, and O’Connell all went from McVay underlings to successful head coaches. The guys that failed (Morris, Staley) have been on the defensive side. Even Zac Taylor has been ok. The reality is that nobody really knows if a good coordinator will make a good head coach, so why not go with a guy off of a proven coaching tree.
Mark Davis: “Perhaps we should interview Hue Jackson…I understand he was an offensive coach”.
Give the Bengals a few kicking tees, a Gatorade cooler, and throw in Max Crosby and Brock Bowers and you can have Zac Taylor. Sounds like a deal to me. We’ll even throw in some Cincinnati Chili and some White Castle burgers.
And promise to build that escalator/stairway the Bengals have in their stadium. I love to watch fans exiting 10 minutes before the end of another loss. Would play well in Vegas
Won’t matter, they will probably draft another QB next year. Maybe one named Manning who will announce he won’t sign with them before the draft.