When the Las Vegas Raiders hired Pete Carroll to be the head coach last season, it seemed like that was a step in the right direction. He’s a Super Bowl-winning head coach and was considered a big upgrade over Antonio Pierce.
Instead, he helped lead one of the most disastrous seasons in franchise history. Considering his track record of success, it was fair to question whether or not the Raiders are just a bad franchise.
However, it seems like Carroll very much lost what made him special earlier in his career. The Raiders now have Klint Kubiak as head coach, who is much younger and less of a control freak.
The team is in the middle of training camp right now, and the early signs are very positive. Compared to last year, it’s not even the same team, according to safety Jeremy Chinn.
The veteran stopped short of throwing Carroll and his coaching staff under the bus too much, but he did make it clear that the team is in a much better spot now.
“Yeah, it does actually,” Chinn told reporters when asked if the Raiders feel like a new organization compared to last season. “We watched some clips of practice yesterday in a team meeting, and it’s like … not embarrassing in a way, but we’re so much better now.”
Kubiak Praises Players
In the future, more may come to light about what exactly went wrong with Carroll and the Raiders, but the biggest issue was that he was the oldest head coach in NFL history trying to lead a very young team.
That’s likely a big reason why the Raiders hired the 39-year-old Kubiak, but even though he’s young, he’s very mature and even-keeled. His message and style are clearly resonating with the players on the roster. He’s really happy with what he’s seen so far in training camp.
“I think we just have a professional group of players. They care about getting better,” Kubiak told reporters Monday. “We don’t have any turds — we’ve got guys that want to be here, that want to win, that want to change this place. So, I’m really happy with that.”
Kubiak Not Big on Talking
Carroll was excellent in front of a mic. He was easily one of the most charismatic choices in the NFL, even at 74. Kubiak is the opposite. He clearly doesn’t love speaking to the media and has a very muted personality.
It makes sense that he’s stressing to his players that actions are much more important than words.
“There’s things we talk about in team meetings, but words are really just — they’re just words,” Kubiak said. “So, I think the most important thing is, we watch our tape and we talk about what is acceptable and what is not. What effort looks like, what it doesn’t look like. And then we let the players go set that standard. So, it’s their game, not ours.”
Having a coach like Kubiak could be exactly what the Raiders needed. He’s all about football and doesn’t seem to care at all about the celebrity that comes with it.
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