Getty Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis.
The Las Vegas Raiders haven’t exactly hit the ground running with their head coaching search but continue to set up interviews. This is an important decision that owner Mark Davis as the team hasn’t been able to find the right coach in decades. The Raiders opening appears to be attractive considering they made the playoffs and have some good young talent on the roster.
However, one of the top head coaching candidates this cycle was rumored to have turned down an interview with the Raiders. According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, former Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell wants no part of the team’s opening.
“According to multiple sources, the Raiders and Vikings both reached out to former Colts and Lions coach Jim Caldwell this week to request to interview him, and he declined both requests,” Graziano wrote.
Graziano is a credible reporter but it’s possible that he was fed some faulty information. Caldwell saw the report and took to Twitter to refute it.
“I would like to correct an erroneous report that I turned down opportunities to interview for the head coaching job with Minnesota and Las Vegas,” Caldwell said. “Those reports are not true. I have profound respect for both organizations and for the Wilf and Davis families and I did not decline any opportunity to interview with them.”
I would like to correct an erroneous report that I turned down opportunities to interview for the head coaching job with Minnesota and Las Vegas. Those reports are not true (Full statement below).
It seems odd that Caldwell would turn down the opportunity to interview with one of the best jobs available. Turns out, that wasn’t actually the case.
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Should Raiders Be Taking a Look at Caldwell?
Now that Caldwell has made it clear that he would interview for the Raiders job, should Davis be giving him a call? The veteran coach’s resume speaks for itself. He has a 62-50 record over seven seasons as a head coach. In 2009, he led the Colts to a 14-2 record and lost in the Super Bowl to the New Orleans Saints. Caldwell was fired two years later after the team went 2-14 with an injured Peyton Manning.
He then took over the Detroit Lions and led them to the playoffs twice in four seasons. He’s the only coach to lead the Lions to two playoff berths in a single tenure since Bobby Ross did it in the late 1990s. Caldwell was let go after a 9-7 season in 2017. The Lions haven’t won more than six games in a season since. He is clearly a strong coaching candidate and the Raiders would be wise to at least have a chat with him. He has experience taking over a team with an established quarterback and winning quickly.
Raiders Setting up Interview With DeMeco Ryans
Early in the interview process, the Raiders have been looking at defensive-minded candidates. They’ve already taken a look at New England Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo and now they’re setting up an interview with another former Pro Bowl defender turned coach. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Las Vegas is planning to interview San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
49ers’ defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is scheduled to interview with the Vikings on Sunday and the Raiders also are planning to interview him as well, per sources.
Ryans’ D faces the offense of Packers’ OC Nathaniel Hackett, who is up for Vikings, Broncos and Jags’ HC jobs.
The former Houston Texans Pro Bowl linebacker has done a strong job replacing Robert Saleh as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. He’s quickly becoming a hot candidate. At 37-years-old, he’ll be one of the youngest candidates the Raiders speak with.
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