Last month, Kirby Smart shuffled his offensive line coaching staff, shifting veteran position coach Stacy Searels to a senior analyst position and promoting Phil Rauscher from an off-field position to the leader of the unit. Less than a month later, FootballScoop.com is reporting that the Las Vegas Raiders are making a run at the new Bulldog’s offensive line coach.
“Numerous sources, with ties to both the Georgia program and NFL, tell FootballScoop that Rauscher is being pursued by the Las Vegas Raiders to join the inaugural staff of new head coach Klint Kubiak,” John Brice and Scott Roussel of Football Scoop wrote. “Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Rauscher has been approached by Kubiak’s Raiders for the role of running game coordinator.”
FootballScoop notes that there is a lot of history between Kubiak and Rauscher. The worked together over 10 years ago in Denver when Rauscher was the assistant offensive line coach and Kubiak was an offensive assistant.
They were reunited with the Minnesota Vikings in 2020. Rauscher was hired as an assistant offensive line coach in Minnesota while Kubiak coached quarterbacks that first year. In year two, both were promoted. Kubiak made the jump to offensive coordinator while Rauscher became the offensive line coach.
Rauscher was last in the NFL in 2024 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for Jacksonville. Kubiak was the offensive coordinator for Seattle in 2025, helping the Seahawks win their second Super Bowl ever.
After a disappointing 2024 season in the run game, Georgia added Rauscher to its support staff and bounced back in 2025. It went from No. 15 in the league in rushing yards per game to No. 4. The Bulldogs also improved from 4.06 yards per carry in 2024 to 4.4 yards per cary in 2025.