Members of the 2023 NFL Draft class for the Las Vegas Raiders are a bit snakebit. Not necessarily in the sense that they've had bad careers, although some of them have, or that the team has gotten worse in each of their three seasons and won just 15 games in three years.
These players are snakebit because when the Raiders hire a new head coach this offseason, he'll be their fourth head coach in as many years. These players were drafted by Josh McDaniels, retained by Antonio Pierce and Pete Carroll, and now, they'll have to start from square one again.
So much turnover leaves little stability for these players, as only Tyree Wilson, Michael Mayer, Tre Tucker and Aidan O'Connell remained in the building even at the start of the year. That's less than half of their nine-member draft class who were still in Las Vegas after two years.
Tre Tucker lays out preferred criteria for Raiders' next head coach
Tucker, who has arguably had the most successful stint with the Raiders of the bunch, knows that something has to change this offseason. When asked what he wanted to see in Las Vegas' new head coach on Monday, the three-year veteran declared what the team needs.
"Everybody needs to be on the same page. That comes with having a coach where we can all win and build stability that way," Tucker said. "All coaches have different styles. I’ve had Josh (McDaniels), AP, Pete. They’re all different, but they all have similar things. Whoever we get, the whole staff, everyone, we all have to be on the same page. I think that’ll translate to wins for us, and that’s when we’ll start having fun with it."
Keeping John Spytek should help mitigate this issue, as for the first time in recent memory for the Silver and Black, the team's general manager is sticking around and leading the coaching search. This will allow Spytek to pick somebody that he sees eye-to-eye with, which Tucker says is critical.
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Pete Carroll never wanted to rebuild, even though that was what the team needed. Spytek did not build a roster that was ready to compete, but the veteran head coach stubbornly did and influenced all that he could to try and win right now. He didn't.
Whoever Spytek brings in will have the idea of rebuilding in mind. That should make the Raiders' head coaching vacancy much more attractive, as any prospective candidate will know that patience will be had in Las Vegas, and their job, barring extreme circumstances, won't be in peril after just one year.
Tucker hit it right on the nose in his answer. Yes, fans want someone from an offensive background. They want someone exciting or innovative. A first-timer, not a retread. But the most important thing is that everyone in the organization is in lock-step. That is, quite literally, the only way to move forward.
Ideally, Spytek can find the best of all worlds. An exciting up-and-comer from an offensive background who shares a vision with the general manager and minority owner Tom Brady. But, for the players in the building, as Tucker said, it seems like that last part is the most critical.