The Las Vegas Raiders have been a lot of things over the years. Underwhelming for one, uncompetitive for another, and some would even say downright embarrassing. In over two decades, the franchise has just two postseason appearances and zero playoff wins. It has been dire straits.
Part of the problem has been poor roster management, and an inability to figure out the quarterback situation has plagued the Silver and Black as well. But failing to hit on the right head coach has also held the Raiders back, whether they were in Oakland or Las Vegas.
Well, the organization is set to hire its sixth head coach in as many years when pen hits paper with Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, as recent reports indicate. But before that happens, the Raiders had to be dragged one last time for their previous failures in this realm.
Raiders' three most recent HCs rank near bottom of recent NFL hires list
ESPN's Bill Barnwell went through all 37 head coach hires around the league since the onset of the 2021 NFL season. He ranked each of them in terms of success, and the Raiders' three hires in that span all ranked toward the bottom. This is very poor company for them to be in.
Antonio Pierce, not too unsurprisingly, kicked off the Las Vegas contingent by receiving a ranking of No. 30 out of 37 hires. While Barnwell initially gave him credit for his work as the interim head coach, he quickly pivoted to Pierce's shortcomings in the full-time role.
"Pierce's game management wasn't up to modern NFL standards. And with Patrick Graham running the defense, Pierce wasn't really bringing much to the table."
As fair as that may be, Pete Carroll was even worse in Las Vegas. Barnwell ranked the veteran coach's tenure just behind Pierce at No. 31, claiming that, while Carroll is still a legendary coach, he didn't come close to achieving what he set out to with the Raiders.
"Despite beating the eventual AFC champion Patriots in the opener, Carroll's Raiders were hopeless for most of the season," Barnwell wrote. "Carroll's defense never showed any consistent aptitude for stopping offenses, and he fired both special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and highly-paid offensive coordinator Chip Kelly before the end of the year."
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Carroll is responsible for the most humiliating season in recent memory, and perhaps in the history of the Raiders' franchise. His saving grace, at least in terms of his perception, will be that his ineptitude led Las Vegas to the No. 1 overall pick.
Josh McDaniels is probably the most criticized Raiders coach in the last few years. While he did take over a playoff-level team and drive it into the ground, McDaniels is mainly bashed for cutting Derek Carr without a contingency plan and for how he lost the locker room. He landed at No. 32.
"The moves ranged from ill-advised to disastrous. McDaniels endured a series of embarrassing losses, most notably when Baker Mayfield joined the Rams in the middle of December and beat the Raiders with a bunch of backup linemen and receivers, having barely learned the playbook," Barnwell wrote. "McDaniels was fired midway through his second season, which was also how his brief tenure in Denver came to an end. I'm not sure there's another coach who was fired before completing two seasons in two different head coaching roles."
Things have been awful in Las Vegas for years on end. But the presumed hire of Klint Kubiak should finally put an end to the misery for Raider Nation. As a young, highly-regarded leader with a strong pedigree and great coaching trees to lean on, Kubiak should finally lift this brutal curse.
But, as always, before the Silver and Black can enjoy any success, Barnwell had to go through and remind the fanbase just how bad they've had it since relocating to Las Vegas. That's okay, though, it'll just make the eventual turnaround that much sweeter.