Getty Mark Davis and Mike Mayock of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders could be in the playoffs next week but there’s still a lot of focus surrounding who the team’s next head coach will be. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has done an admirable job this season, but he may not get serious consideration for the job even with a playoff appearance. That may seem harsh but owner Mark Davis has to think about the future beyond this year.
In fact, the Raiders may have already made a decision. According to Michael Fabiano of Sports Illustrated, the team could make an announcement “sooner rather than later” based on what happens on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
My little birds are chirping. Could be an announcement on the next Raiders head coach sooner rather than later, depending on how the team does this weekend. And if the birds are correct, it’ll be a HUGE move.
Keeping Bisaccia wouldn’t qualify as a huge move so this report doesn’t bode well for his chances. The Raiders have to keep things quiet for now as a win on Sunday and a playoff berth are very possible. The team needs to be focused on winning now regardless of who the coach will be. Missing the playoffs would likely mean this announcement that Fabiano is teasing comes sometime next week. If the Raiders win, it will be interesting to see if they can keep these rumors under control for another week.
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Which Coaches Would Qualify as a Huge Move?
Todd Bowles, Leslie Frazier, Dabo Swinney, Jim Harbaugh, Gus Bradley and Bisaccia have all been linked to the Raiders job recently. However, only Harbaugh and Swinney would likely qualify as “huge” moves. Bowles, Frazier and Bradley have all been head coaches before and all three of them failed.
Swinney has been connected to the job thanks to a recent appearance at Allegiant Stadium where he was seen donning Raiders gear. There are a number of his former Clemson players on the roster so it makes sense why Las Vegas would be appealing to him if he wanted to jump to the NFL.
Harbaugh makes the most sense. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic recently reported that the coach is open to going back to the NFL and specifically mentioned the Raiders as the most tempting destination. Harbaugh was a quarterbacks coach with the team in the early 2000s and remains close with the Davis family. Hiring him would be the definition of a “huge move.”
Reporter Teases Harbaugh Announcement Soon
There’s been a lot of smoke surrounding the rumors of Harbaugh taking the Raiders job. It’s starting to look like a real possibility. Sirius XM NFL Radio host Amber Theoharis revealed on Twitter that an announcement is coming soon and posted a GIF of Harbaugh.
Chiro chiro chirp. My birdies say announcement soon.
In later tweets, she ruled out that the announcement is that he’s going to the Jacksonville Jaguars or Chicago Bears.
@DJRaz34 @ChicagoBears Sorry bro it’s not the Bears
Obviously, there will be other coaching jobs available to Harbaugh but Theoharis never ruled out the Raiders. It’s all speculation at this point, but the fact that Fabiano teased a big Raiders coaching announcement coming soon and then Theoharis teased a big Harbaugh announcement coming soon is certainly suspicious. It could be a coincidence but it’s a situation to watch closely.
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Insider Teases Major Raiders Announcement: ‘It’ll Be a Huge Move’