When NFL teams fire seven or so head coaches per year for the last couple of decades, the pool of deserving and exciting candidates starts to dwindle. It’s a big reason former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden has joined Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel on the “hot” list this year.
The Raiders are shopping for a new coach after firing Antonio Pierce on Tuesday following a 4-13 season. Pierce lasted all of 26 games (nine as an interim) and was already the fifth full-time head coach in Mark Davis’ 13 years as owner.
Here are 10 potential head-coaching candidates for the Raiders to consider in the coming weeks.
Ben Johnson
The Raiders offense has been bad for years now, and the franchise will be in the market for a new starting quarterback for the third straight offseason. So it’s only right that we start with the hottest offensive-minded head-coaching candidate on the market. Since Johnson, 38, became the Lions’ offensive coordinator in 2022, they’ve had a top-five offense every season. Being a great offensive coordinator doesn’t guarantee someone will be a great head coach — see: Josh McDaniels — but Johnson has also contributed to building the overwhelmingly positive culture that’s been integral in the Lions becoming one of the best teams in the NFL. He should be one of the first candidates the Raiders call.
Mike Vrabel
Vrabel was largely successful throughout his six-year run as Titans head coach from 2018 to 2023. He posted a 54-45 record, made the playoffs three times and won the AFC South twice. A four-year drought without a postseason victory and back-to-back losing seasons, however, ultimately did him in, and he interviewed for four jobs last year without getting one. Raiders minority owner Tom Brady and Vrabel were teammates with the New England Patriots from 2001 to ’08, so there’s a lot of built-in familiarity there. Vrabel, 49, spent this season as a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns and is considered a leading candidate to replace the fired Jerod Mayo in New England.
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Jon Gruden
Gruden resigned as Raiders coach in 2021 after emails surfaced in which he had made racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks. Is the league ready to let him back in? He tested the waters as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints in 2023 and recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with Barstool Sports to seemingly appear on every show they have. Teams are always looking for someone who can fix quarterbacks, and the Raiders were seemingly on an upward trajectory when he resigned, going on to make the playoffs that season under interim coach Rich Bisaccia. He finished with a 22-31 record in that second stint with the Raiders and has a record of 117-112 overall in 15 seasons with the Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While a return to Las Vegas seems unlikely, the 61-year-old Gruden could reunite with quarterback Derek Carr in New Orleans or get a look with the Chicago Bears or New York Jets.
Liam Coen
The Buccaneers became the first team in NFL history to complete 70 percent of its passes while averaging more than 5 yards per rushing attempt. And many credit Coen’s “Make them defend every blade of grass” offense in which he tries to challenge defenses horizontally and vertically. Coen, 39, is a Sean McVay disciple who served as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky in 2021 between two stints with the Los Angeles Rams. Quarterback Baker Mayfield credits Coen with leaning on the running game this year after injuries hit, and when was the last time the Raiders had a successful, balanced offense?
Liam Coen guided an electric offense in Tampa Bay led by quarterback Baker Mayfield. (Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today)
Jesse Minter
Minter, 41, only has one year under his belt in his current role, but he did a hell of a job turning the Los Angeles Chargers defense from one of the NFL’s worst into one of its best. Los Angeles finished 24th in scoring defense in 2023. This year, the Chargers finished first in points allowed per game (17.7). Before joining the Chargers, Minter served as the University of Michigan’s defensive coordinator for two seasons and helped them win the national championship following the 2023 season. A cause for pause could be how light he is on NFL experience as he’s only coached in the league for five years, which includes four seasons as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens.
Aaron Glenn
With as much attention as Johnson has gotten for the Lions’ offensive success, what Glenn, 52, has done with the defense has gone largely under the radar. In his first year on the job in 2021, Detroit finished 31st in scoring defense. The Lions were still just 28th in 2022 and 23rd in 2023, but they improved drastically to seventh this season. That’s come despite a glut of injuries to starters such as defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, cornerback Carlton Davis, linebacker Alex Anzalone and defensive tackle Alim McNeill. He’s also known for his special leadership traits and has been a head-coaching candidate for years now.
Steve Spagnuolo
Spagnuolo basically took Sunday off as the Kansas City Chiefs rested their starters with nothing to play for and the longtime defensive coordinator didn’t blitz Bo Nix once. But he is a big part of why the Chiefs are going for a three-peat. He was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams from 2009 to ’11 and then an interim coach for the New York Giants in 2017, and he wants another shot. Spagnuolo, 65, would be a nice touch by the Raiders, hitting the division champs where it would hurt, but would Davis really turn to another defensive coach after Pierce?
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Brian Flores
The defensive coordinator is a big reason the Minnesota Vikings were so good this season, and he has New England ties with Brady just like Vrabel. His aggressive defense led the league in blitz rate this season. Flores, 43, does have an ongoing lawsuit with the NFL over racial discrimination, but Davis wouldn’t care about that. Of more concern would be his issues dealing with his front office while head coach of the Miami Dolphins (he was 24-25 over three years) and the recent claims by Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that Flores was “a terrible person” who constantly criticized him in what was an abusive relationship. Davis is very much a players’ owner like his late father was.
Brian Flores has guided one of the NFL’s best defenses. Will he get another chance after clashing with some players in Miami? (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Todd Monken
Ravens coach John Harbaugh gave his offensive coordinator the game ball on Saturday, maybe knowing it was a going-away present. The Ravens were second in the NFL in scoring offense after being fourth last season in Monken’s first go-around. Monken, 58, has helped turn Lamar Jackson into one of the best passers in the league, and now the question is how he would do in interviews as owners like Davis probably don’t know much about his personality.
Joe Brady
We were going to have some fun and include University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, but even Davis isn’t crazy enough to try and pair a rookie coach with his son, Shedeur, a rookie quarterback who may not be there when the Raiders draft. So, we’ll go with the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator. True, there are tougher jobs than having Josh Allen at QB and yelling “improvise,” but the Bills did lose a ton of offensive firepower this season and didn’t really miss a beat. A star coming out of LSU, where he helped Joe Burrow win the Heisman Trophy, Brady had a rough couple of years as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2020 and ’21, but he is thought by many to still be a bright, young mind at 35.
(Top photos of Ben Johnson and Jon Gruden: Michael Reaves and Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
