The Las Vegas Raiders originally kept running backs coach Deland McCullough on their staff as they transitioned from the Pete Carroll era and welcomed Klint Kubiak in as the franchise's new leader. But that changed on Tuesday, as McCullough was no longer listed on the Raiders' website.
While McCullough quickly landed on his feet, accepting the running backs coach job at the University of Oklahoma, Las Vegas still needed to fill the gap left by McCullough. Although the Raiders had the NFL's worst rushing attack during the 2025 NFL season, it was hardly McCullough's fault.
Still, the Silver and Black moved fast on finding his replacement, as CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported that Kubiak and Co. are set to hire Omar Young. Young is a native of Oakland, California, and served as the running backs coach at Iowa last college football season.
Raiders have reportedly hired Omar Young as their RBs coach
Young played defensive back at Division III Willamette before he began coaching. His coaching career began at the JUCO level, where he was a wide receivers coach before he ascended to Division II Minnesota-Moorhead, where he served as the special teams coordinator and secondary coach.
In 2013, he took a graduate assistant job, where he focused on special teams, at Division I San Jose State. He stayed there for two years before becoming a defensive quality control coach and special teams coach at the University of Colorado in 2013 and 2014.
By 2016, he was an offensive analyst and running backs coach at South Carolina, where he worked with Rico Dowdle, Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards, Hayden Hurst, and others. Then, he left for a three-year stint at Eastern Illinois, where he was the running backs coach and co-special teams coordinator.
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He also coached in the NFL for several seasons, first as an offensive assistant for the running backs with the Cleveland Browns in 2015. Young was also an offensive quality control coach and worked with both wide receivers and running backs for the Green Bay Packers in 2017 and 2018.
Young also worked with the Chicago Bears in 2022, helping with running backs and special teams. By 2024, he was working as the tight ends coach for the New England Patriots. This past season, he helped a Hawkeyes rushing attack that finished No. 17 nationally.
It sounds like Young has some in-depth knowledge of the entire game of football, but his prowess is mainly working with running backs and helping out with special teams. Those are two areas that the Raiders have struggled with over the years, so Young could be a homerun hire.
Jeanty should benefit from working with Young during the 2026 NFL season, and the return game, which mainly featured running backs last year, should be improved with Young in the building. It doesn't hurt that he has Oakland roots, either.