The Las Vegas Raiders have long been a frustrating franchise to root for, and one NFL executive believes part of the reason is a consistent mistake they continue to make with their head coaches.
The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the most storied franchises in the NFL. Whether they are located in Oakland, Los Angeles, or now Las Vegas, they have one of the most loyal and rowdy fan bases in the sport. Those supporters deserve a lot of credit because it hasn’t been easy being a fan of the Silver-and-Black.
Since the start of this new century, the Raiders have had only eight seasons where they delivered .500 or better records. Five of those were double-digit win seasons, and three came in the first three years of the century. Suffice it to say, over the last decade, the team has rarely been anywhere near title contention.
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Unsurprisingly, during that time there has been a great deal of turnover in the head coach job with 13 different individuals being full-time or interim head coaches for the Las Vegas Raiders, including two stints by Jon Gruden.
Las Vegas Raiders record (2022): 6-11, third place in AFC West
However, while the performance of players and poor roster decisions could be blamed for the team’s disappointing showing over the last 22 years, one NFL executive believes the types of head coaches they have hired — especially in recent years — have been the biggest impediment to the Las Vegas Raiders’ success.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s NFL insider Mike Sando spoke to an NFL executive about various topics for all 30 NFL teams. When it came to the Raiders, one exec detailed the reason they believe the organization’s rebuilds with new regimes continue to fail.
“The Raiders have been building for so long, tearing it down with each new regime. This is a team that had Derek Carr and Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. Jon Gruden came in and wanted his guys. Josh McDaniels came in and wants his guys. Maybe they should have a coach who can work with the guys they’ve got. Now, Darren Waller is gone, too.”
– Anonymous NFL executive
Head coach Josh McDaniels and general managers Dave Ziegler have been very aggressive in remodeling the roster this offseason after a disappointing season in 2022. However, the case by the executive is interesting because the “Coach of the Year” for last season, Brian Daboll, was a first-year head coach who improved the players he took over instead of having major changes made to the New York Giants roster.
Furthermore, being able to improve upon the roster that is already there would allow the team greater flexibility in roster decisions instead of needing to sign or trade for players that are better fit for what the coaches want.