Getty
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis with Jon Gruden.
The Las Vegas Raiders have struggled to find stability under Mark Davis‘ ownership. His father, Al Davis, is one of the most iconic owners in NFL history and led the franchise to three Super Bowl victories.
Mark Davis has only seen the team have two winning seasons under his ownership. The biggest swing Davis took to try to find stability with the franchise was when he gave a 10-year contract to Jon Gruden.
He was the last Raiders head coach to find consistent success, but he butted heads with Al Davis and was eventually traded. Mark Davis always wanted to bring him back and eventually pulled it off in 2018.
Unfortunately, that didn’t go according to plan, as Gruden resigned during the 2021 season. Despite that, Davis and Gruden maintain a strong relationship. The coach offered some high praise for Davis.
“Although they’re from the same family, they have the same last name, they’re completely different, but very, very devoted to the Raiders,” Gruden said of the differences between Mark and Al Davis on the “Games With Names” podcast. “Mark Davis still treats the alumni extremely well. He’s very proud of his dad, he’s very proud of the Silver and Black, and that’s why I think they’ll be back.”
Davis Confident in Klint Kubiak
The Raiders have struggled to find a long-term replacement for Gruden. No coach has lasted a full two seasons with the franchise since he resigned.
The Raiders recently hired Klint Kubiak to be the next head coach, and he should be a face they build around for at least a few years. Davis was much more hands-off with this head coaching search than he has been in the past.
When Kubiak was introduced, it was general manager John Spytek standing next to him while Davis was in the crowd with the reporters and families. Despite the fact that he wasn’t as involved, he’s very excited about Kubiak.
“It’s great to have that,” Davis said of Klint’s lineage, via Raiders.com. “His father has [three] rings and now he’s got one on his own. That’s really exciting for him.”
“There’s a lot of impressive things about him, but again it’s just his way of being,” he continued. “I think his family, everything – he’s really just a nice, young man. And he’s also competitive. As they say, he’s a silent assassin. So I think we’ll see that and Raider Nation is going to end up loving him.”
Raiders Hoping They Finally Have Long-Term Head Coach
The Raiders have hired more coaches than any other franchise since Jon Gruden was traded before the 2002 season. It’s not a winning strategy to keep cycling through coaches.
Luckily, Kubiak is young and doesn’t have any baggage. The reason Pete Carroll was one-and-done was that the Raiders are heading toward a rebuild, and they needed a young coach.
The Raiders need to be patient with him. The roster needs so much work, so it’s possible it’ll take two or three years before they’re really ready to start competing.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
More Heavy on Raiders
Loading more stories