There is a common thought circulating in the social media world that the Las Vegas Raiders should and will hire an offensive-minded coach to work with what is expected to be a new quarterback, possibly Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

And that inclination has been shown early in the search process.

Nine of the 14 candidates who have been interviewed come from an offensive background.

But the organization’s brain trust is spending some of its time in South Florida scouting Mendoza in the national championship game meeting with two of the top young defensive coaches on the market.

Closer look at candidates

The Raiders conducted a second interview with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, 42, and are expected to do the same with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, 45.

Minter grew up in coaching as his father Rick was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati for a decade.

The elder Minter has remained in coaching, serving as a senior defensive analyst for the Chargers this season.

Jesse Minter has been in demand around the league this hiring cycle after helping lead the Chargers to a second-consecutive postseason appearance in two years on the job.

He came to Los Angeles with Jim Harbaugh after they won a national championship at Michigan.

While Minter has earned his stripes as a defensive coach, he did play wide receiver in college at Mount St. Joseph.

He entered coaching at the collegiate level, spending time with Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Georgia State and Indiana State before was hired by John Harbaugh and the Ravens in 2017. He worked his way up to defensive backs coach before being hired as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator.

Jim Harbaugh hired him for the same position at Michigan and brought him to Los Angeles two years later.

Brady and Spytek played together at Michigan, where Minter won a national championship as defensive coordinator.

Minter has a show-cause penalty imposed by the NCAA in April 2025. The sanction means he can’t coach in college for one year after getting hired because of penalties from recruiting. The NFL does not enforce those sanctions.

Evero, who was born in England and raised in Rancho Cucamonga, California, signed as an undrafted free agent after his collegiate career as a safety at UC Davis. He did not make the team and returned to Davis as an assistant coach the following year.

He cut his NFL coaching teeth in stints with the Buccaneers, 49ers, Packers and Rams before earning his first defensive coordinator job with the Broncos in 2022.

Evero spent one season in that job before taking a similar position with the Panthers in 2023.

He has produced two top-10 defenses in four years as a coordinator.

McDaniel still in play

The Raiders may have gotten a bit of good news in regards to another of their potential candidates who is known for his offensive acumen.

Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel informed the Browns he would not participate in a second interview for their head coaching position and withdrew from consideration for the job, according to NFL Network.

The move comes just a day after the Raiders interviewed McDaniel in Miami, though he still has other options.

McDaniel also is a candidate for the Ravens head coaching job and took an interview Tuesday with the Chargers for their offensive coordinator job. McDaniel had been connected often to the offensive coordinator job in Detroit, but the Lions hired Drew Petzing.

Tennessee is now also a place to watch for McDaniel as the offensive coordinator after the Titans hired Robert Saleh as head coach. McDaniel and Saleh worked together in both Houston and San Francisco.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.