Every day, it becomes clearer and clearer that the Las Vegas Raiders made the right call by moving on from Pete Carroll and replacing him with Klint Kubiak. Regardless of exactly why things failed in Las Vegas last year, the Raiders needed a fresh perspective, and Kubiak is nothing if not that.
The 39-year-old leader will have more responsibility than ever before, but thankfully, he has stacked his coaching staff with experienced voices to have in his ear. Oh, and he's the son of a Super Bowl-winning head coach, one who is a founding father of modern NFL offenses.
But it is going to take a lot more than schematic genius or a good grip on the Xs and Os to help turn the Raiders around. Kubiak will need great players. He'll then need to relate to those players and earn their trust so that they'll want to run through a brick wall for him on game days.
Jackson Powers-Johnson and Jack Bech seem to already be getting there, based on first impressions.
Raiders' young players are already enjoying Klint Kubiak's fresh perspective
Diamond Leung of the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently had the chance to speak with both Powers-Johnson and Bech. When he asked the latter about his new head coach, the second-year player dove a bit into why he's so excited that Kubiak got the Raiders' job.
“Oh, he’s awesome,” Bech said. “He’s big into his faith. I’m obviously the same way. So for him just to be able to bring that into our program and just live by that, we’re just so excited. We can’t wait. ... Coach Kubiak and (offensive coordinator Andrew) Janocko and all of them, they’re all offensive masterminds, so I couldn’t be more excited to learn from them and to really dive into the plan they have for us.”
Now, not every player is going to connect with Kubiak because of their faith. But it is important that a head coach is multi-faceted and can reach his players in a myriad of ways. Fans can already feel that Bech trusts Kubiak as a person and reveres his football knowledge, which is the perfect combination.
Powers-Johnson is seemingly a fan of his new coach already as well. When asked to give his impression of Kubiak thus far, the third-year interior offensive lineman indicated that he was a fan, even making quite a favorable comparison.
“Young and cool,” Powers-Johnson said of Kubiak. “He reminds me of (Oregon head coach) Dan Lanning a little bit.”
Lanning is one of the most highly respected and successful coaches in college football. His name comes up every year during the NFL hiring cycle, and it is only a matter of time before the young and venerated leader finds himself in the professional ranks.
It should also be noted that Kubiak puts a premium on the center position in his offense, and Powers-Johnson has made it known before that he wants to play center. But Kubiak and Spytek went out and signed Tyler Linderbaum to a record-shattering contract this offseason to play there instead.
But Powers-Johnson's perspective on the matter, when asked, shows not only his selflessness, maturity and character, but also that he holds his new head coach in high esteem and trusts the process that the Raiders are going through.
“Having an All-Pro at center, that’s great. And (I) have a guy I can learn from,” Powers-Johnson said of Linderbaum. “He’s going to know a lot of the tricks of the trade. Getting to play next to a fellow Rimington (Trophy) winner, that’s awesome. It’s really exciting. He seems like a great dude.”
To further prove that Powers-Johnson is all-in on what is happening in Las Vegas, the 2024 second-round pick talked about his future. Although Raiders fans have been stressed about what position he'll play, it seems like it'll actually be refreshing for Powers-Johnson to have a clear vision and focus.
“I’m confident in my future,” Powers-Johnson said. “I think the biggest thing was I wanted continuity because kind of these past two years have been flip-flop, flip-flop, and now this gives me an opportunity to get one thing and get really good at it.”
Maxx Crosby finally gave his impressions of Kubiak last week, and they were quite favorable. Ashton Jeanty is also a fan of what the Raiders have done so far this offseason. Based on these interviews with Leung, it sounds like fans can add Powers-Johnson and Bech to the list.