New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak had to play catch-up with putting his coaching staff together. He was the last head coach hired in the cycle, so a lot of the top assistants were already off the market.
Luckily, he was able to bring over some people from the Seattle Seahawks and promote some in-house candidates. The Raiders are expected to use the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on a quarterback.
This led to there being a lot of interest in who the quarterbacks coach would be. Since Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is favored to be the Raiders’ pick, there was speculation that former Indiana offensive coordinator Chandler Whitmer would want to follow Mendoza to the NFL.
However, it took too long for the Raiders to put their coaching staff together, and he accepted a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr also expressed some interest, but it looks like he’s planning to play in 2026.
Las Vegas announced its full coaching staff, and many noted that there was a lack of a quarterbacks coach on the list. It appears that the Raiders decided to keep the job vacant instead of forcing a coach they may not have liked that much into the position.
Raiders Have Coaches Who Could Pick Up the Slack
It’s certainly a curious decision not to have a designated quarterbacks coach, especially with a rookie quarterback likely coming in. The development of a rookie quarterback will be the most important thing the Raiders do this season.
While the lack of a designated quarterbacks coach is a bit concerning, the Raiders have plenty of coaches who can pick up the slack. New offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko spent years as a quarterbacks coach and was Kubiak’s quarterbacks coach last year with the Seattle Seahawks.
Kubiak is calling the offensive plays, so Janocko doesn’t have to do everything a traditional offensive coordinator would have to do. Assistant head coach Mike McCoy is a former quarterback who also has a lot of experience as a quarterbacks coach. It’s likely that those two will share a lot of quarterback coach responsibilities. They are both high-end coaches when it comes to quarterbacks, so Mendoza should be in good hands.
Mendoza Talks Tom Brady
Another person who could play a role in coaching quarterbacks is minority owner Tom Brady. He’s not going to be at practice every day, but the future Hall of Famer is a great resource for the Raiders to have.
Though Mendoza hasn’t been drafted by the Raiders yet, he’s very excited about the chance to work with Brady.
“Who hasn’t admired Tom Brady?” Mendoza said at the Combine. “Tom Brady, I believe, is the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin. To be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him would mean so much, especially to learn. I’m all about learning.
“From Day 1, I gotta learn a lot. It’s going to be a long journey, and to have — potentially have — a mentor like that would be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful.”
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