Top Eight Candidates To Be The Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach in 2025

From Bill Belichick to Jon Gruden, who will the Raiders interview and hire as their head coach for 2025? RotoBaller's Brant Henson explores eight head coaching candidates.

The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after a disappointing 4-13 season. Pierce was the head coach for just one season after taking over as the interim coach in 2023 after Josh McDaniels was let go. 

General manager Tom Telesco, who was hired just this season, was retained and will help aid in the search for the team’s next head coach. The new hire will be the organization’s fifth head coach since 2021, when Jon Gruden was fired in-season.

The job is not the most intriguing out there, given that there is no clear-cut plan for the quarterback position in a division that features Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Bo Nix. However, having a young star like tight end Brock Bowers has to be moderately intriguing for any coaching candidate. Let’s dig into eight potential options to succeed Pierce as the head man in Las Vegas.

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Bill Belichick, HC, North Carolina

Bill Belichick recently signed on to become the head coach at the University of North Carolina, his first attempt ever at coaching in the college ranks. Will he make it to the season?

Multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether legendary coach Bill Belichick would reconsider his move to college football – including the Raiders, whose new minority owner Tom Brady spoke recently with his old coach, per league sources. https://t.co/MoyG87epRv

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 8, 2025

Supposedly, NFL teams have reached out to see if they could potentially change the coaching legend’s mind and persuade him to come back to the league. One interested team appears to be the Raiders, which happens to have Tom Brady as a minority owner. Brady is expected to aid in the coaching search, making Belichick a possible candidate despite recently agreeing to coach the Tar Heels.

Brian Flores, DC, Minnesota Vikings

Brian Flores is one of the hottest names on the market right now. The former Miami Dolphins head coach has done an excellent job turning around the Vikings’ defense this season, and the league has not let his efforts go unnoticed. 

Both the Bears and Jets have already put in requests to interview Flores for their head coaching vacancies, and the Raiders should follow suit. Keep in mind that Flores coached in New England from 2008-2018 - the Tom Brady connection is here, too.

Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Washington Commanders

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is another hot candidate this cycle after helping lead the Washington Commanders to a successful season and developing Jayden Daniels into the frontrunner for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Kingsbury will likely be a head coach somewhere in 2025 - why not the Raiders? He was on the Patriots’ roster in 2003, sharing a quarterback room with, you guessed it, Tom Brady.

Liam Coen, OC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Liam Coen is another hot candidate following a great season as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator. Coen has bounced around between the NFL and the University of Kentucky as an offensive coordinator, coming from Sean McVay’s coaching tree after spending 2018-2020 and 2022 with the Rams. 

The 39-year-old has been contacted by the Jaguars already with an interview request, but it is likely not his last opportunity this cycle. NFL franchises are jumping at the opportunity to land the next big name from the Shanahan/McVay coaching tree, and Coen fits the mold.

His offensive expertise would pair well with whatever quarterback the Raiders opt to lean into for 2025, given that Coen would have a say in who the team brings in.

Joe Brady, OC, Buffalo Bills

Aside from struggling in Carolina for a brief stint as offensive coordinator, Joe Brady’s offenses have lit scoreboards up everywhere he goes. From being touted as the mastermind behind LSU’s record-breaking 2019 offense to the man Josh Allen attributes much of his 2024 success to, everything Brady touches turns to gold. 

#Bills QB Josh Allen, when asked what OC Joe Brady has brought to the offense this year: “Nothing. Teams should stay away from him.”

Brady has interest from several teams this HC cycle and… I don’t expect team’s to listen to Allen 🤷‍♂️.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2025

He is only 35 years old, meaning this could be a long-term hire if things go right. The Raiders are in no position to win now with no future quarterback on the roster, so locking in the right coach who can help build a franchise is crucial. Despite the same last name, there is no connection between Brady and the aforementioned Tom Brady.

Deion Sanders, HC, Colorado

These last three options are taking a step outside of the box, but the Raiders are known for doing so. Deion Sanders had a successful year 2 at Colorado but even more important than his win total is the fact that players are inspired to play hard for him. Colorado had no players opt out of the Alamo Bowl despite the game holding little meaning.

The Raiders hold the sixth pick in the NFL Draft, but if they bring in Sanders, they would likely make a move up draft boards to pair him with Shedeur Sanders.

The Titans will probably take a quarterback first overall, but if they opt for Cam Ward over Sanders, Las Vegas could swing a deal with the Browns to move up from six to two. Las Vegas has long been considered a favorite landing spot for Shedeur - why not pair him with his father to continue their respective careers together?

Patrick Graham, DC, Las Vegas Raiders

It is unlikely that the Raiders hire from within after the way that the Antonio Pierce experiment went, but defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is drawing interest around the league and interviewed for head coaching jobs last offseason with Seattle and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Graham’s contract in Vegas is up, and given that they are bringing in a new regime, they likely won’t retain him as a defensive coordinator. With that being said, he is considered a candidate for the Jacksonville job and has also earned an interview with Cincinnati for their vacant defensive coordinator job.

Jon Gruden, Barstool Sports

Let’s get really crazy. Jon Gruden has made it known that he wants to return to the NFL sidelines, where he last coached for Las Vegas in 2021, prior to being fired for non-football reasons. He is considered a candidate for this coaching cycle as teams seem to have put the incident that got him fired in the past.

Bowers is amazing. incredible production from the slot, isolated at wr, from the backfield and as a conventional TE.

He just set the rookie reception record with 3 different starting qbs and a change at OC!
pic.twitter.com/hzJzKeSdXW

— Jon Gruden (@BarstoolGruden) January 5, 2025

Gruden had success in Vegas, making the playoffs in 2016, and was on track to make the playoffs again in 2021 prior to being fired - Rich Bisaccia went on to coach the team into the playoffs. Since 2021, the Raiders have been a complete dumpster fire. The last time the organization had stability, Gruden was on the sidelines. It is unlikely to happen. But what if it did?

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