Predicting the Las Vegas Raiders 2021 defensive coaching staff

Raiders Defensive Line Coach: Rod Marinelli

Lets face it Raiders fans, Rod Marinelli is here to stay. For better or worse, Gruden is convinced Marinelli is the man for the job, and unless the long-time NFL coach has a change of heart regarding his availability for the upcoming NFL season, he will be back in the Silver and Black in 2021.

Marinelli has had the most storied coaching career of any defensive line coach perhaps in the history of the NFL. His drills and philosophies are copied by almost every four-man front defense around the country from the NFL down to high school football.

It is possible that Raiders fans haven’t quite seen the best of what Marinelli has to offer quite yet. With obvious philosophical differences between Guenther and Marinelli, the Raiders never seemed to kick into high gear as a pass rush in 2020. Marinelli’s preferred style of gap penetration and causing disruption was in stark contrast to Guenther’s preferred method of controlling the line of scrimmage.

If the current staff shakes out like mentioned previously, Marinelli will get his way and allow the Raiders defensive line to pin their ears back and rush the passer on almost every play (save for maybe some 3rd and 1 and goal-line situations). That’s what Bradley, Richard, and Joe Barry (Rod Marinelli’s son in law) all prescribe by anyways.

So whoever ends up being the Raiders defensive coordinator it seems, the foundation is already set for Marinelli to thrive in 2021.

Consider this: in 2020 the Raiders defense had the 3rd most QB Hurries according to Pro-Football Reference. However they only yielded 21 sacks (4th worst). Another year in Marinelli’s system should without a doubt bring that sack number up to at least middle of the pack.

Honorable Mention: Todd Wash