Silver And Black Pride
Those looking for instant gratification when it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders’ coaching search are not going to be happy.
The Silver & Black is among nine NFL teams seeking to land a new head coach this offseason, and thus far, the Raiders’ venture in finding a replacement for Pete Carroll is deliberate. Las Vegas isn’t sitting on its laurels, of course.
Since waxing Carroll on “Black Monday” on Jan. 5, the Raiders interviewed five candidates with an addition six interviews requested. Our Bill Williamson broke down that 11 with his thoughts on where the coaching search stands on Wednesday.
Then, that same day, reports surfaced that Las Vegas was slated to interview Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero on Wednesday, which brought the number of known candidates to 11.
There are several checkpoints the Raiders reach before making a hire official, however.
Namely, there’s the Rooney Rule — teams must interview (in-person) at least two external minority and/or female candidates for the head coach gig. The playoffs enter the Divisional round this weekend with the AFC and NFC top seeds — the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, respectively — jumping into the fray after first-round byes. And we can expect potentially more interview requests coming to light after this round.
Thus, Raiders general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady — the two men earmarked to lead the search by owner Mark Davis — quest to hire a new head coach and steer the franchise in a proper direction has ample time.
That all noted, let’s get to my Top 5 known coach candidates for the Silver & Black:
Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator: The Michigan Men theme is routinely brought up when it comes to Minter as Spytek and Brady are former Wolverines, too. But Minter’s ability to design and deploy a defense is something to behold. His disguised coverages and post-snap rotations confuse the opposition often making it look like Minter’s defense is steps ahead of the opposing offense.
He also stresses the fundamentals and his coaching style stresses simplicity and adaptability. Minter faces a steep climb to get the Raiders to Top 10 rankings like he had this past season with the Chargers — ranked ninth in points allowed (340), fifth in yards yielded (4,849), and seventh in takeaways (23) — but his relative youth and energy make him up for the task. At 42 years old, Minter steadily rose through the coaching ranks earning the praise and trust of the Brothers Harbaugh (current Bolts boss Jim and former Ravens coach John).
Oh, also, he brings two-years worth of experience and knowledge from within the AFC West. And that can’t be discounted.
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