Excitement around the Las Vegas Raiders is at an unbelievable high right now. Despite finishing with a 3-14 record, which cemented them as the worst team in the league during the 2025 NFL season, the Raiders have seemingly started the 2026 offseason on the right foot.
Not only did they lock up the No. 1 pick in April's draft and fire head coach Pete Carroll, but they are reportedly planning to replace him with Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. The deal cannot be made final until after Super Bowl LX, but everything indicates that Kubiak is a Raider.
Between landing a young, hotshot assistant and the potential to draft a franchise quarterback with the top pick in a few months, Las Vegas is sitting pretty. As for exactly what kind of coach they may be getting in Kubiak, however, fans will have to trust longtime former quarterback Derek Carr.
Derek Carr's description of Klint Kubiak sounds like Raiders' dream HC
Carr, after his nine-year run with the Raiders, signed with the New Orleans Saints. There, he played under Klint Kubiak, who was his offensive coordinator for one season in 2024. On the latest episode of his Home Grown Podcast, Carr gave a description of Kubiak as a head coach. And it's beautiful.
"Klint is very stoic. The tone, I would say, the volume of his voice isn't going to change. He's right here, but it's going to be very clear. We're going to go out to practice, and when we come back in, he's going to say, 'You got to be quicker. This ball should be gone. You got to get your depth. You got to sell this a little more. This is a great route, guys. Watch this right guard right here, guys. This is awesome. This is perfect right here.' And you want to know why, Klint, if the Raiders get him, it's the best hire? If they let him just cook and get him people that match his scheme," Carr said. "Klint Kubak has a scheme that they believe in that they are running no matter what. And here it comes in, this culture and this scheme, that this is who we are. It is so abundantly clear who you are as an offense when you're in a room with him. You know the standard. You know exactly what's asked of you. And if you're not doing it, he tells you, and then you're gone. He's just honest."
Stoic. Straightforward. A clear communicator. No-nonsense. Conviction.
That sure sounds like a dream coach for the Raiders to be hiring. Kubiak has developed a great reputation around the league, one that has preceded him in Las Vegas. And it has been difficult to find anyone who doesn't have the same great things to say about him as a leader and a coach.
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Now, because Kubiak comes from an offensive background, nailing the defensive coordinator hire will be critical as well. But Raider Nation doesn't necessarily want him meddling on that side of the ball, as Carroll did with the offense in 2025. According to Carr, that shouldn't be an issue.
"And when it comes to defense, he'll lean on his defense coordinator. But he's going to say, 'Guys, if we want to win defensively, A, B, and C, this is acceptable, this is unacceptable.' And he'll hold them accountable based on what the coach is telling (him)," Carr said. "But he's not going to go over there and (say) 'You guys got to do this and this and this. He's going to let him cook because he's like, 'I'm trying to cook my offense.' But the most important part of it is some of these coaches get jobs because they're with good coaches or they're this or that, and then they just steal things that they've liked. But it's like, where does it start?"
Letting the defensive coordinator do his job is important. But Kubiak having a standard for the entire team and holding the defense accountable is just as critical. It sounds like Kubiak, the son of a Super Bowl-winning head coach and a Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald understudy, is made for this.
Fans can say what they want about Carr as a quarterback, but they cannot doubt his first-hand experience working with Kubiak. If Kubiak can be the same coach in Las Vegas that Carr is describing here, then the Raiders may have walked into a dream scenario.
Perhaps Kubiak will be around for quite a while.