The Las Vegas Raiders finally filled their head coaching vacancy by hiring Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. They interviewed 15 candidates during their extensive search, but the franchise ended up landing one of the crown jewels of this year's coaching cycle.
Kubiak could not officially be announced as the Raiders' head coach until after Super Bowl LX, where the Seahawks took down the New England Patriots. He officially got the job on Monday, but due to this delay, the first-time head coach will be playing catch-up as he looks to build out a coaching staff.
While it is his first crack at a head coaching gig, Kubiak has spent over a decade working in the NFL and building connections. Several coaches who have spent time working with him should soon be joining him in Las Vegas.
Klint Kubiak's first Raiders staff could be filled with familiar faces to the first-time head coach
Bringing in the right blend of coaches to lead what figures to be a vastly different roster from the one the Raiders fielded in 2025 is of the utmost importance. The Athletic's Michael Shawn-Dugar listedseveral candidates that could follow Kubiak from Seattle to Las Vegas.
"Kubiak brought in several assistant coaches familiar with him from previous stops. Offensive line coach John Benton, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko and offensive assistant Michael Byrne spent the 2024 season with Kubiak in New Orleans. Run game coordinator Rick Dennison and run game specialist Justin Outten also have history with Kubiak."
While he did not list names, ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed that the Seahawks will likely lose additional coaches to the Raiders.
"I think the fact that he's leaving means that it's probably not going to be the only hit to Seattle's coaching staff. The chances are he'll be taking some of his trusted assistants with him to Las Vegas. And I don't know how many or who yet, but I will say there'll be minimum one, two, three coaches that go with him to Las Vegas, and that's going to leave a void for the Seahawks."
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Former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr added that he hopes Benton and Janocko both follow Kubiak to Las Vegas during the latest episode of his Home Grown podcast, focusing on the latter, who was his quarterbacks coach with the New Orleans Saints.
"Andrew Janocko, love him. Love him... This is the type of guy he is. They're getting ready for the Super Bowl, and he texts me, (Jake) Haener, and Spencer (Rattler) a hilarious picture and then another funny one of Jake. That's just him. He would be in our room, and he'd be like, 'I was talking to Justin Fields'. But it says something when all the quarterbacks you've had continue to love you and talk to you and want to have a relationship. And he helped me play great football. Like, he's amazing. The talk, the standard, all those things... I would hope (Janocko is the offensive coordinator). I would think. I mean (Kubiak and Janocko) are like peanut butter and jelly, can't separate them. If they did, I would be shocked."
Benton, Janocko, Byrne, and Dennison all followed Kubiak from New Orleans to Seattle. Dennison, in particular, has a lengthy history with the Kubiak family, which dates back to 1995, when he began his NFL coaching career as an offensive assistant for the Denver Broncos under Gary Kubiak, Klint's dad.
All in all, Dennison has spent 23 years working with the family. Meanwhile, Benton spent eight years as the elder Kubiak's offensive line coach during his lead stint with the Houston Texans before joining Klint for the past two seasons.
Janocko is in his fifth season working alongside the younger Kubiak, while Byrne and Kubiak got their coaching start together with the Texas A&M Aggies in 2010 and have spent four seasons working alongside one another.
Outten has the least experience with Kubiak, as the 2022 season was the only time they crossed paths before this year. Either way, Las Vegas' newest head coach has plenty of options to build out his offensive staff.