Over the years, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis has cycled through many head coaches. For whatever reason, he hasn’t been able to find the right guy.
With how many names he has hired and fired, you would think he’d luck into at least one legitimate head coach. This offseason, the Raiders hired Klint Kubiak, who was previously the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.
The first three games of his tenure looked excellent, as the team started off 3-0. However, they quickly crashed back to earth and lost three games in a row, dropping to 3-3.
Outside of the blowout loss to the New England Patriots in Week 5, the Raiders have remained competitive. The team wasn’t supposed to be good this season, so even being in the mix for the playoffs is a win. Davis has been quick to move on from coaches in the past, but it sounds like he still very much believes in Kubiak.
“I think he’s doing a great job,” Davis said of Kubiak in an interview with The New York Post. “He’s building a culture. I have a whole lot of faith in him.”
Davis Believes He Has Long-Term Solution
Davis has been short on patience. None of the Raiders’ last three head coaches made it to two full seasons in the job. Some may argue that he pivoted too quickly, but he felt he’d rather correct a mistake quickly than double down.
“I didn’t feel negatively about anybody, starting out,” Davis said of previous regimes. “It just became very clear that it wasn’t the right fit or the right situation. And I wanted to make the changes quickly enough that it didn’t linger.”
This time, Davis feels good about what the team is building.
“At this point, I’m very confident that we’ve got a long-term situation to work with,” Davis said.
Kubiak Draws Praise From Rams
Kubiak has been in the NFL for a while and has called offensive plays for a few teams. He had a hard time finding a long-term home for reasons beyond his control.
Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula got to know Kubiak very well last season while he was on the Seahawks, and he thinks highly of the coach.
“He was in New Orleans a couple of years ago and you see he does a great job,” Shula said of Kubiak, via Raiders.com. “You can see obviously it’s his offense. You see a lot of the concepts and a lot of the stuff that they did at those places. … I think he does one of the best jobs in the league at matching the offense to the personnel and the skill sets that they have. There are certain things at other places that he would do based on the personnel that they have and there are certain things at the Raiders that he’s doing, obviously with some of the great players with [Brock] Bowers and those great backs that he has. I think he’s one of the best in the league at what he does and it’s a huge challenge.”
Mark Davis Has Strong Words For Klint Kubiak Amid Losing Streak