The Las Vegas Raiders have undergone some significant changes at the ownership level over the last couple of years. Tom Brady was brought in as a minority owner, and billionaire Egon Durban is likely to buy the team after Mark Davis eventually decides to sell his majority stake.
When Davis first took over the team after the passing of his father, Al Davis, he had to run the show. Over the years, he has hired and fired many head coaches and general managers.
Unfortunately, he has not been able to find the right combination. Last year, he started to lean on Brady, which was a big reason why John Spytek got the general manager job. This offseason, the Raiders were able to land Klint Kubiak as the head coach, and he was one of the top candidates.
Davis has been desperate to find somebody who can run the football side of the Raiders, and he thinks he has finally found it. According to the owner, he has no plans to be involved in the hiring process going forward.
“My role is pretty much over in that regard,” Davis said of the hiring process in an interview with The New York Post. “We got who we all believe are the right choices.”
Easier Said Than Done
In a perfect world, nobody in the Raiders’ front office should have to worry about hiring or firing a head coach or general manager for a very long time. Right now, it does look like the Raiders have the right people in place.
Spytek has had some misses, but he’s a well-regarded talent evaluated around the NFL. Kubiak seems like a possible future star as a head coach. The Raiders are 3-3, but that’s better than many expected, and he’s calling plays for the sixth-highest-scoring offense in the NFL right now.
The franchise isn’t going to make a change at head coach or general manager this year. However, this is the Raiders, so it’s still possible that things go wrong. If Davis loses faith in Brady’s ability to evaluate general manager and head coaching talent, he may start to insert himself again. At the end of the day, the Raiders are Davis’ team, so his role in the hiring process will never truly be over until he sells.
Raiders Could Finally Be Building Something
The Raiders are never going to be good if they have a new general manager and/or head coach every one to two years. Spytek has a strong enough background to warrant giving him at least three full seasons to build out the roster.
Kubiak has a chance to be one of the better head coaches in the NFL, but he’s young and still figuring things out. For the first time in a long time, it seems like the Raiders could finally be building something.
The Jon Gruden experiment wasn’t working out, Josh McDaniels was doomed from the start, Antonio Pierce had no experience and Pete Carroll was the oldest head coach in NFL history upon his hiring. The Kubiak-Spytek tandem feels different, which could mean big things for the franchise.
Mark Davis Reveals Raiders Role He Will No Longer Be Involved In