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Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has done the unthinkable this season by leading the Las Vegas Raiders to the playoffs. It’s been a brutal season filled with controversy but the first-time head coach has kept the team afloat. The Raiders will be playing in only their second playoff game since 2002 thanks, in large part, to Bisaccia.
Most analysts on the outside looking in believe that the coach has done enough to earn the full-time head coaching job. However, Raiders owner Mark Davis may have other plans. He’s shown a proclivity for targeting superstar head coaches. He hired Jon Gruden back in 2018 and just hired Becky Hammon to a record-breaking deal to take over the Las Vegas Aces. While Bisaccia has proven himself capable, he’s not a name that will excite Davis.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the interim head coach isn’t confident that he’ll be keeping the job.
“I don’t think that he believes that he has a chance to keep the job, which is unfortunate, because he’s done a great job,” Schefter said of Bisaccia on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.
Schefter also mentioned that he thinks the Raiders “believe that they’re going to be making a change.” Obviously, the season isn’t over yet and a deep playoff run could change things but it looks like merely getting to the playoffs won’t be enough to guarantee that Bisaccia keeps the job.
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Questions Regarding Bisaccia
What Bisaccia has done by leading this team to the playoffs is nothing short of remarkable. Most teams would’ve folded and finished with a bad year. He deserves a lot of credit for what they’ve done. However, there are a lot of things Davis needs to take into account before he makes a decision.
This is still Gruden’s team. He built the roster, constructed the coaching staff and the offense is still working from his playbook. Will Bisaccia be able to build his own staff and make tough decisions? Can he play a role in constructing a solid roster? Will he keep Greg Olson as offensive coordinator and let him build his own playbook or hire somebody new? It’s possible that he has answers to those questions but Davis needs to make sure he does before he hires him.
Lightning in the Bottle?
With no prior head coaching experience on his resume, the Raiders need to focus on what he’s done this year to determine if he’s right for the job. The most concerning thing for Davis has to be the thought that the Raiders just caught lightning in a bottle this year. The team is 4-0 in overtime games and seven of their 10 wins ended with a one position lead.
It’s great to win close games but Davis would like to see his team win a bit more definitively from time to time. Now, to be fair to Bisaccia, he could tighten up the ship this offseason and fix a lot of the problems brought on by Gruden. Davis may look at a guy like Jim Harbaugh or Brian Flores and see them as a safer bet as they’ve already proven they can take a bad team and turn them into a winner. It’s possible that Bisaccia is the perfect head coach but it could be a risk depending on who is available. One thing is certain: Davis should only not bring Bisaccia back if there is a candidate who is definitively better.
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