Getty Josh McDaniels & Mick Lombardi of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite a disappointing 6-11 season in 2022, the Las Vegas Raiders are heading into 2023 with much of the coaching staff still intact. The team’s offense ranked 12th in the NFL in points per game last season but that wasn’t nearly as good as what was expected considering the talent on the roster. Head coach Josh McDaniels calls the plays and is considered one of the stronger offensive minds in the NFL.
Even he has decided to bring in some help this offseason. The Raiders already announced the hiring of Scott Turner as the passing game coordinator and the team wasn’t done making additions to its offensive coaching staff. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Las Vegas is hiring Matt Lombardi as an offensive assistant/assistant wide receivers coach.
Notably, Lombardi is the brother of Raiders offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi. Both of them are the sons of former NFL executive Michael Lombardi, who was a senior personnel executive with the Raiders from 1998 to 2007. The silver and black connections run strong in the family.
Background on Matt Lombardi
Matt Lombardi got his start as a scout for the Cleveland Browns in 2013 until moving to the college coaching ranks in 2014 with Louisville. He came back to the NFL in 2019 as a quality control coach with the Miami Dolphins.
Lombardi spent the last three seasons with the Carolina Panthers as an assistant quarterbacks coach under Matt Rhule and Steve Wilks. He’ll be moving away from quarterbacks in Las Vegas and start working with wide receivers. He’ll have a fun job as he gets to work with two of the best wide receivers in the NFL in Hunter Renfrow and Davante Adams.
Is McDaniels Already on the Hot Seat?
Expectations were high for McDaniels as he got his second NFL head coaching job after failing with the Denver Broncos a decade ago. He was about as successful as an assistant could be – winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. Teams have been interested in giving him another shot to be a head coach for years but he waited for the right opportunity. Following an improbable playoff run in 2021, the Raiders decided to forego bringing back interim head coach Rich Bisaccia in favor of McDaniels.
His first season in Las Vegas went about as poorly as possible. He took a 10-7 playoff team and finished with a 6-11 record. Quarterback Derek Carr had his worst season since he was a rookie and was recently cut. McDaniels won’t have another scapegoat if 2023 goes poorly. Owner Mark Davis was never going to fire the coach after one season. He wants to give him a chance to fix things. However, he won’t be as forgiving in Year 2. It’ll take a lot for the owner to fire McDaniels this year but there will be talk of his seat warming up if the Raiders don’t show much improvement. He’ll be able to hand-pick his quarterback and has plenty of salary cap space to get the players he wants. The Raiders have enough talent to be competitive but the coaching left a lot to be desired last season. McDaniels isn’t on the hot seat right now but could be if the Raiders get off to a rough start next season.