The Las Vegas Raiders are no longer the team that gets stuck with whatever the rest of the NFL discards. The era of second-choice head coaches is gone. Band-Aid veteran quarterbacks who were ousted by their previous teams are no longer the move. The Raiders are taking what they want.
Through some aggressive but still legal means, Las Vegas obtained the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Fernando Mendoza will almost certainly be the pick there. The Raiders' front office then parlayed that into landing a big fish in the head coaching cycle with Klint Kubiak.
But the road to getting there wasn't easy. It required more patience than the franchise and fanbase are used to. But John Spytek met with the press several times on Tuesday and peeled back the curtain on why and how the Raiders landed on Kubiak as their leader. And it's hard not to be excited.
John Spytek has Raiders fans believing again with Klint Kubiak hire
When introducing Kubiak as the next head coach of the Silver and Black, Spytek sang Kubiak's praises before he ever went on the stage. He explained what impressed the front office most about Kubiak during the interview process and why they felt good about waiting before ultimately hiring him.
"He stood out with his leadership, with his humility, with his work ethic, with his intelligence," Spytek said. "We called many people around the league and got glowing reviews on him, too. It made it a difficult, but easy decision for us."
Spytek was later asked to explain how Kubiak's scheme would fit in Las Vegas, and what about it, in particular, was appealing to the Raiders. Spytek took the question in a completely different, but just as flattering, direction.
"It's less about scheme and more about the person. We were very thoughtful about how we approached this, the kind of coach and man that we were looking for to lead this organization on a day-to-day basis. He talks to the players every day. The players are our most important part of this organization right now," Spytek said. "He just was the right person. The fact that he can score a lot of points is awesome, too. But we were more focused on the person, the humility, the work ethic."
Las Vegas waited over a month after firing Pete Carroll to officially hire and announce Kubiak as the organization's next leader. When asked about why the Raiders exercised so much patience, the answer, to Spytek, was clear.
"We always intended to be patient and almost boring with the process, in a good way. Not bad boring, good boring. We felt like, 'That's a guy we should make time with again.' And you just don't know how it's gonna go because they keep winning and you keep waiting," Spytek said. "We were impressed with so many different people, but Klint just kept winning. We just promised each other from the start (that) we would keep waiting. And so we reminded ourselves, 'Let's keep waiting.' Eventually, we had a chance to fly up to Seattle the day before they left to go to Santa Clara and sit with him in person."
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It sounds like something special always stuck out about Kubiak, and that's why the Silver and Black held out hope for him to come. When it came to the criteria that the Raiders were looking for all along in the hiring cycle, Kubiak ultimately met all of them, according to Spytek.
"We were looking for a leader of men, and what's required to be that? I don't think it's required to have a great scheme to be a great leader of men. I think it's the ability to show up every day and be consistent and work. And let the players and the people in the building, everybody in the building, feel your work ethic and your commitment to this organization. An integrity and a humility that (says), 'I don't have all the answers.' But also a growth mindset of 'I'm going to continue to grow.' And a self-confidence that, 'You know what? I'll figure it out.' Klint really impressed us with that. He didn't have all the answers. But he confidently said, 'I'll figure it out. You can trust me to figure it out.'"
You can trust me to figure it out.
Kubiak spoke at length during his press conference about the importance of putting in the work and earning the trust of those in the building and the fanbase. Those qualities that endeared him to the Raiders' front office are already making a good impression on the team's diehard fans.
And it certainly doesn't hurt that the timelines will match up with Kubiak, a first-time head coach from an offensive background, and Mendoza, a coveted quarterback prospect who will likely walk into the building as the No. 1 overall pick. Spytek spoke on that as well:
"You love the opportunity to potentially pair [Coach Kubiak] up with a young quarterback. I think that does make a lot of sense. But that wasn't necessarily our intended goal from the start."
Logically, Kubiak made a lot of sense. He comes from an NFL pedigree and just helped lead an elite offense to a Super Bowl victory. But it was the intangibles and the character that drew Spytek and the Raiders' decision-makers in. The person and the leader that he is.
Drawing up incredible plays by marrying the pass and the run game got Kubiak on the radar. But his leadership, humility and integrity got Kubiak the job. The Raiders may have finally made the right decision at head coach, as it seems like Kubiak is the coach that they've been waiting on. For a while.