Oakland Raiders top-10 head coaches in franchise history
By Brad Weiss
From 2003-11, Jack Del Rio served as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a pretty solid run with the Jags, Del Rio became the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos for a couple seasons, before taking over as the head coach of the Raiders in 2015. He was the team’s head coach for three seasons, and brought winning football back to the Silver and Black.
Del Rio took over for Dennis Allen, who was fired during the 2014 season, and replaced by interim head coach Tony Sparano. After going 7-9 in his first season at the helm, Del Rio led the Raiders to one of their best seasons in recent memory during the 2016 campaign.
In 2016, the Raiders looked to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders, as they got off to a 11-4 start heading into their Week 16 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Leading big late, the Raiders saw star quarterback Derek Carr go down with a broken leg, and while the team did win the game, the season was essentially over. Oakland lost in Week 17, losing the division to Kansas City, and would be bounced by the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round the next week.
Last season, the Raiders had Super Bowl expectations, but the change from Bill Musgrave to Todd Downing as offensive coordinator really hurt the team. The Raiders stumbled to a 6-10 season, and after a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17, Del Rio was relieved of his duties.
Still, he led the team to their first winning season since 2002, and ended his Raiders tenure with an above .500 record at 25-23.