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John Spytek with Klint Kubiak.
The Las Vegas Raiders are getting closer and closer to having a fully formed coaching staff. With the NFL Scouting Combine coming up, the team is going to want their coaches in place.
Even though Klint Kubiak was the final head coach hired this offseason, he has been quick to put together his staff. He’s now mainly hiring assistants.
What is likely to be one of the last hires he makes, the Raiders announced that Mario Jeberaeel has been hired as the offensive run game coordinator. Notably, Jeberaeel is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and went to college at UNLV. This will be a bit of a homecoming for the veteran coach.
It’s also worth noting that Jeberaeel was a defensive assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars the last two seasons, but is coming to the Raiders to coach offense. He has previous experience coaching on the offensive line, so he’s worked on both sides of the ball. He was an offensive lineman in college.
Jeberaeel’s unique experience on offense and defense makes him an interesting coach for the Raiders to have. The run game and offensive line are going to be very important for what they want to do. Last year, Brennan Carroll was the run game coordinator for the Raiders, so Jeberaeel should be a substantial improvement.
Kubiak Confident He Can Turn Raiders Around
The Raiders have cycled through so many coaches over the past two decades. The last three head coaches the team hired didn’t even make it through a full second season.
Kubiak was a coach who likely had options this offseason. He was the offensive playcaller for the Super Bowl-winning team.
Even if he decided to pass and spend another year with the Seattle Seahawks, he was likely looking at a huge pay raise and would be a head coaching candidate again next year.
However, he saw the Raiders as a challenge that he’s eager to tackle.
“There have been plenty of other coaches, but why not us? Why not this staff? Why not this group of players?” Kubiak said during his introductory press conference. “You look at it [through] the lens of there’s a history of some guys that are in and out of here pretty quickly, I look at it as a great challenge. That’s what the NFL is all about.”
Raiders History Appealed to Kubiak
It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time when the Raiders were considered one of the premier franchises in the NFL. The coach who makes the Raiders relevant again is going to get a ton of credit.
The history of the franchise was one of the things that made the team appealing to Kubiak.
“This is the Raiders. This is one of the most historic franchises in the NFL, with a great history that I want to be a part of,” Kubiak said. “You look around this building and the resources that we have, our meal room, the weight room, the fields outside, the coaches’ offices, it’s as good as it gets in the NFL.
“Been in a lot of buildings for good reasons and bad reasons, been hired and fired, and the resources are here. We’ve just got to go put it all together.”
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
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