After an initial surge of hires following the official announcement of Klint Kubiak as the next head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders have slowed down quite a bit as they fill out their staff. All the major pieces are in place, but the Silver and Black still need to add key assistants and support staff.
The vacant quarterbacks coach position is gnawing at the fanbase, but other hires needed to be made, too, like offensive passing game coordinator. The Raiders filled that role on Friday evening, as they tabbed Nick Holz for that job.
Does Holz's name sound familiar? That is because he was an assistant coach in both Oakland and Las Vegas for a 10-year stretch from 2012 to 2021, just like Travis Smith, who was recently brought back as the defensive line coach. The band is getting back together in Sin City.
Raiders officially hire Nick Holz as offensive pass game coordinator
Now, let's first explain the dot-connecting here. Holz and Smith, both from Walnut Creek, California, know Brian Callahan, former Tennessee Titans head coach. Holz and Callahan were high school teammates at De La Salle, and Smith is from the same area but attended elsewhere.
Callahan's father, Bill, was the Raiders' offensive coordinator under Jon Gruden and took over once he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bill Callahan and Al Davis had a falling out, but after Davis' passing in 2011, Mark Davis hired several Callahan associates back in 2012.
Like Holz and Smith, who transcended countless regimes for the Silver and Black in both Oakland and Las Vegas. They coached under Dennis Allen, Tony Sparano, Jack Del Rio, Jon Gruden and Rich Bisaccia before eventually spreading their wings. But now they're back.
Mike McCoy, the Raiders' assistant head coach, was on the Titans' staff last year with both Callahans, and he eventually took over as the interim head coach when the younger Callahan was fired. Also on that staff? Holz, as the offensive coordinator, and Smith, as the defensive run game coordinator.
So, now that the dot connecting is over, let's go into Holz as a coach. He played wide receiver at the University of Colorado for five years and then immediately jumped into coaching at the collegiate level in 2007, starting as an offensive quality control coach and video intern at Nebraska.
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After one year there, he left for an offensive assistant, operations assistant, & assistant quarterbacks coach role at Stanford. He held that title for four seasons before joining the Raiders as an offensive assistant in 2012. Holz held that title for three years under Allen and Pagano.
He was promoted to offensive quality control coach and eventually an assistant wide receivers coach under Jack Del Rio. Once Del Rio was fired and Gruden came back to the Silver and Black, he retained Holz, but demoted him back to an offensive quality control coach role for three seasons.
Holz was promoted again to assistant wide receivers coach during the Raiders' 2021 playoff season, but Josh McDaniels cleaned house in 2022. That prompted Holz to leave the building after a decade, and he landed as an offensive coordinator at UNLV.
Following that one-year stint, he became the passing game coordinator for the Jaguars in 2023, and then was hired as part of Brian Callahan's Titans staff, serving as the offensive coordinator for two seasons, from 2024 to 2025. Holz earned a C grade in the NFLPA report card.
In a passing game coordinator role, he should find a way to add value to this Las Vegas team. He also has experience working with a No. 1 pick quarterback or two, so hopefully, he can help the Raiders out with ensuring Fernando Mendoza's transition goes smoothly.
Plus, the passing game can't be much worse than it was last year. Hopefully, Holz makes it a lot better, even though history would indicate that his passing attacks aren't too lethal.