It looked like the Las Vegas Raiders‘ coaching staff was struck with a blow when offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo left for the New York Giants but that may have not been the case. According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, players weren’t vibing with the coach.
“He wasn’t a favorite of players in Las Vegas, according to multiple sources,” Raanan wrote in a January 18 column. “There were questions about his coaching techniques, and the Raiders didn’t exactly put up a fight to retain his services, given his connection to coach Josh McDaniels, who was fired Oct. 31.”
This news is a bit of a surprise as many believed the Raiders’ offensive line overperformed. The team has been top 15 in the NFL in sacks allowed in each of the past two seasons and Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus ranked the Raiders as the 10th-best offensive line in the NFL for 2023.
Based on Raanan’s report, it sounds like the team likely wouldn’t have brought him back regardless of who the head coach ended up being. Considering the Giants are dealing with their own toxic environment, bringing in another coach who’s had issues with the players could be a problem. Regardless, it’s not the Raiders problem anymore but they do need to find another offensive line coach.
New England Patriots Purge Has Been Expected
Until the Raiders officially hire a head coach, it’s hard to know who might be on the coaching staff. If interim head coach Antonio Pierce gets the job, he could be looking to move on from coaches who were tied to former head coach Josh McDaniels and the New England Patriots.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic predicted as much during the regular season.
“Regardless of how the rest of the season and the subsequent search for replacements pan out, a rival coach predicted an offseason purge of former New England Patriots with ties to McDaniels,” Howe wrote in a November 3 column.
Carmen Bricillo is just the first notable name out the door since the season ended but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a substantial overhaul of the coaching staff, specifically on offense. The defense played well and the Raiders have blocked teams from interviewing defensive coordinator Patrick Graham for the same position so that staff could mostly stay intact.
Latest on Las Vegas Raiders HC Search
The Raiders have been surprisingly quiet since the regular season ended. There have only been three head coaching interviews that have been reported, which include Antonio Pierce, Leslie Frazier and Kris Richard. Other than that, the Raiders don’t appear to be very active.
It’s looking more and more likely that Pierce is going to get the job but the delay in announcing anything is odd. Owner Mark Davis could be getting cold feet or he may just not be eager to make an announcement.
It certainly wouldn’t sit well with the players if it looked like Pierce would get the job only for Davis to hire somebody else. The Raiders will be a situation to watch until Pierce is officially hired but it still seems unlikely that the team goes in a different direction.
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Raiders Players Leak Distaste for Recently Departed Assistant Coach