The Las Vegas Raiders believed they struck gold in the NFL coaching carousel, hiring Kliff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator for the 2024 season. After Kingsbury backed out of the deal, Las Vegas quickly had to scramble and hire Luke Getsy.
The Raiders coaching search for an offensive play-caller to support head coach Antonio Pierce brought in several candidates. Kingsbury, Getsy, UCLA Bruins head coach Chip Kelly, San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy were interviewed.
- Las Vegas Raiders offense 2023: 19.5 PPG (23rd), 4.9 yards per play (27th), 35.65% third-down success rate (24th), 2.8 red-zone scoring attempts per game (23rd), 48.94% RZ TD rate (24th), -0.086 EPA per Play
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After Kingsbury wouldn’t sign his contract on Saturday, emerging as a candidate to become the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator, Las Vegas had to pivot quickly. With Kubiak poised to become the Saints’ offensive coordinator, Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco went to another option.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported early Sunday morning that the Raiders were working on a deal to make Getsy their new offensive coordinator. While the hiring isn’t official, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirmed that Getsy will be the Raiders offensive coordinator in 2024.
Examining Las Vegas Raiders OC Luke Getsy
Before being hired as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator in 2022, Luke Getsy had a strong reputation league-wide. He received significant praise from quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Raiders’ wide receiver Davante Adams has credited Getsy for his role in the All-Pro’s development
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However, the Bears wasted little time this offseason in firing Getsy. With an offense featuring No. 1 wide receiver D.J. Moore and first-round quarterback Justin Fields, Chicago had one of the worst NFL offenses in 2023. It was also par for the course with offenses under Getsy.
| PPG | Yards per Play | First Downs per Play | Red Zone attempts per game | EPA per Play | |
| Bears’ offense (2022) | 19.2 (23rd) | 5.3 (20th) | 0.28 (28th) | 2.9 (19th) | -0.037 (23rd) |
| Bears’ offense (2022) | 21.2 (19th) | 5.0 (24th) | 0.294 (24th) | 2.9 (20th) | -0.052 (21st) |
From 2022-’23 with Getsy as the play-caller, the Bears’ offense finished 21st in EPA per Play (-0.045) behind the Raiders (-0.037) and 24th in success rate (41.4 percent, Raiders 42.5 percent). In terms of Getsy’s passing offenses, Las Vegas finished with a higher EPA per Play (0.008) over the last two seasons than the Bears (-0.063). Getsy maintained an effective ground game, but much of the credit for that goes to Fields.
Fields was also very critical of the Bears’ play-calling earlier this season. When asked in September about his early struggles, Chicago’s quarterback said he was playing “kind of robotic” and cited some of the play-calling and coaching as part of the issue.
“Could be coaching, I think. They are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can’t be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week, and then when the game comes, it’s time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more.”
Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields in September on his struggles, needing to play more freely
Those comments were made after Week 2 and it took time for the Bears’ offense to start finding its stride. Of potential concern for Las Vegas, the Bears’ offense slightly improved after Fields started freelancing more. Considering the uncertainty the Raiders are already dealing with at quarterback, Getsy’s addition shouldn’t ease concerns for this offense in 2024.
Mississippi State offense under Luke Getsy
| PPG | Yards per Play | 3rd Down Rate | QB Rating | |
| Bulldogs’ offense (2018) | 25.7 (80th in FBS) | 4.8 (105th) | 29.73% (124th) | 115.4 (109th) |
Getsy also served as the offensive coordinator for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in 2018. The Bulldogs had the worst offense in the SEC, finishing outside the top 100 FBS teams in major offensive categories. After the 2018 season, in which the Bulldogs finished 8-5, Getsy was not retained then following year.
