ProFootballTalk, via ESPN’s Josina Anderson, is reporting that the Oakland Raiders have requested permission to speak with Indianapolis Colts Offensive Coordinator Pep Hamilton regarding the team’s head coaching position.
Hamilton, who is 40 years old, has long experience as an NFL assistant, beginning his NFL coaching career in 2003 with Herman Edward’s staff in New York, working as offensive quality control coach under OC Paul Hackett. He spent three years with the Jets, as a QB coach in 2004 (working with Chad Pennington and Quincy Carter) and a WR’s coach in 2005. He spent 2006 as Norv Turner’s quarterback coach on Mike Nolan’s 49ers staff working with second-year quarterback Alex Smith before heading off to Chicago to spend three years as quarterbacks coach on Lovie Smith’s staff under OC Ron Turner. During his run in Chicago, he worked with a number of quarterbacks, including Brian Griese, Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman and Jay Cutler. Hamilton spent three years at Stanford between 2010 and 2012, then followed Andrew Luck to Indianapolis, serving as the offensive coordinator in Indy for the past two years. Luck has obviously thrived in Hamilton’s offense, throwing for nearly 4,800 yards and 40 TD’s this year.
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While it could be possible that Hamilton is being interviewed to satisfy the Rooney Rule, it’s unlikely that the Raider organization would request to talk to a working NFL coach and fly him out from Indianapolis if they weren’t at least somewhat interested. With Jim Harbaugh off the market, Mark Davis and Reggie McKenzie will be fully engaging with every possible candidate in play. Hamilton brings a lot to the table: he’s young, he’s a quarterback guru, and his offense has been incredibly potent in Indianapolis. He may be the type of head coach who can really develop young Derek Carr, and the Raiders may be looking for a young, innovative offensive head coach to pair with their young franchise passer.
Hamilton represents a different potential direction for the Raiders coaching search. Other names floated, like Jack Del Rio, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur, have all had previous stints as head coaches, as has current interim Head Coach Tony Sparano. All of them were already coaching at some level in the NFL when Hamilton was still playing college ball at Howard University. Del Rio and Sparano are both in their 50s and Shurmur is 49. Hamilton will turn 41 after the beginning of the 2015 regular season, has never been a head coach at any level, and his coaching background in the NFL only extends back about a decade. If Raider leadership is looking to go in the direction of youth, energy and innovation, Hamilton may be the move.