The Raiders have a contingent at the National Championship Game in Miami tonight.
Owner Mark Davis, minority owner Tom Brady and General Manager John Spytek are on the sideline before Indiana, with quarterback Fernando Mendoza, plays the University of Miami for the title.
The Raiders have the No. 1 overall pick, and with a need for a franchise quarterback, they are expected to select Mendoza.
The team continues interviews for a head coach to replace Pete Carroll, with Panthers Ejiro Evero scheduled for a second interview. Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb are other candidates.
Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post reports that the Raiders could have interest in Indiana co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer in the same capacity on their staff. Whitmer was the Falcons’ passing game coordinator in 2024 and was with the Chargers from 2021-23, so he has NFL experience.
Raiders Clips
When the Patriots fired Bill Belichick two years ago, most assumed he’d land on his feet with another NFL team.
In the third hiring cycle since his firing by the Patriots, Belichick has been publicly linked to only one job (the Falcons, in 2024).
This year, with 10 total openings, Belichick’s name has not come up. Except, of course, when he brought it up on his own.
In November 2025, Belichick issued a statement declaring he won’t pursue the opening with the Giants “despite circulating rumors.” (None were circulating.) The Giants, as we hear it, weren’t pleased with the pre-emptive announcement, since they had no intention of pursuing him.
If any other team has even kicked the tires on the Tar Heels coach, the interest has been kept tightly under wraps. Nothing has leaked about any inquiries or conversations or even basic background work (like, for example, figuring out the depth of and basis for his lingering animosity toward his former NFL employer) associated with making a potential hire.
The Buffalo job would be the one to watch, given the presence of quarterback Josh Allen and the ongoing rivalry with the Patriots. Belichick is regarded as the greatest game-day coach in league history. Yes, other factors have potentially complicated things, to say the least. Still, given the craziness of the past few weeks in the NFL, it would be foolish to completely rule out anything.
For now, though, the key word as it relates to Belichick’s NFL prospects is “nothing.” In three cycles, he’s had one announced interview. And while he has said he doesn’t want to return to the NFL, few in NFL circles believe it. The more reasonable interpretation would seem to be that it’s his way of dealing with the fact that no NFL team wants him.
The Dolphins completed interviews with Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard for their head coaching job, the team announced on Monday.
Graham was the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator in 2019.
He joined the Raiders as a member of Josh McDaniels’ staff in 2022, and he remained with the team through the changes to Antonio Pierce and Pete Carroll. The Raiders fired Carroll after one season.
Graham served as the defensive coordinator for the Giants in 2020-21. He spent seven seasons in various roles with the Patriots and has also worked as an assistant with the Packers.
Sheppard became the Lions’ defensive coordinator a year ago — his first time as a coordinator — when Aaron Glenn left to become the Jets’ head coach. Sheppard was the Lions’ outside linebackers coach (2021) and linebackers coach (2022-24) before becoming the team’s coordinator.
The Dolphins have also interviewed or will interview Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, Packers defensive coordinator Jim Hafley, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. They also had interest in Kevin Stefanski before the Falcons hired him.
The Raiders have started to line up a second round of interviews for their head coaching vacancy and the first round continued on Sunday.
The team announced that they completed interviews with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak. Both coaches were on the losing side of divisional round playoff games on Saturday.
Brady’s team shook things up by firing their head coach on Monday and he could be a candidate to take a step up the ladder in Buffalo. He also interviewed with the Ravens and Dolphins on Sunday and the Bills’ elimination frees him up for in-person interviews with any interested clubs this week.
Kubiak met with the Steelers on Sunday and is in the same boat as Brady when it comes to scheduling any future interviews. The Raiders also interviewed his brother Klint, but the Seahawks offensive coordinator won’t be able to do any second interviews this week.
Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things. And, thanks to plenty of the perennially dysfunctional teams, the league is a current dysfunction mess.
The current hiring cycle, which at one point seemed like it could be quieter than usual, has sparked turnover with 10 teams. Nearly one third of the league. Two jobs have been filled; with Monday’s termination of Bills coach Sean McDermott, the number of vacancies is back to eight.
Here’s how one current NFL head coach put it, in a Monday morning unsolicited text message to PFT: “At this very moment, [this is] the worst collective of 32 owners in league history.”
It’s a strong statement, but the proof is, if anywhere, in the pudding. Bad teams stay bad. They think that they can turn it around by firing the current coach and hiring a new one, because for other teams it happens.
But the cycle of hiring and firing and hiring and firing contributes to the situation. When the owner has an itchy trigger finger, the coach spends way too much time looking over his shoulder and wondering whether the next decision that doesn’t pan out will be his last.
There’s no competence test to pass in order to qualify to own a team. The paths remain simple (if not easy): (1) have enough money to buy a team; or (2) get your name in the right spot in the will.
While some of the currently vacant jobs are open for reasons unrelated to membership in the gang that couldn’t own straight, most trace to owners who feel like they need to do something, so they fire the coach. In plenty of cases, three years or less after firing the last one.
Meanwhile, the teams with capable owners will benefit. Rash decisions aren’t made. Patience is displayed.
Aaron Rodgers recently blamed the media for the presence of certain coaches on the “hot seat.” The blame goes to those who don’t know what to do (because they secretly don’t know what they’re doing), so they do the easiest thing — fire the coach.
Even if the coach isn’t the biggest part of the problem. Of course, for the truly dysfunctional franchises, the biggest part of the problem isn’t subject to a pink slip. Because owners can’t be fired for general incompetence when it comes to the on-field performance of the team.
Financially, they’re all performing well. They’re all winning, even when they’re losing. And those who are losing will feel compelled to keep the fans believing that the future will be brighter (or less bleak) by dumping the current coach, and by moving to the next coach in who inevitably will be the next coach out.
Much of the focus on the Dolphins’ head coaching search in recent days has been on their second meeting with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, but he’s not the only candidate meeting with the team on Monday.
Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard are also getting in-person interviews with the team. Longtime NFL reporter Josina Anderson reported the Graham plan last week and there were multiple reports about Sheppard’s interview over the weekend.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes that the two interviews will satisfy the Dolphins’ Rooney Rule requirements, which means they’ll be free to move forward with hiring Hafley or any other candidate they select.
Hafley also has interviews scheduled with the Titans and Raiders, but he won’t be taking them should everything fall into place in Miami.
A couple of defensive coordinators have set up second interviews for the Raiders’ head coaching job.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Raiders are scheduled to meet with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter on Tuesday and Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Wednesday. Former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero are also scheduled for interviews with the team this week.
Hafley is also scheduled for a second interview to replace McDaniel in Miami on Monday and there’s been chatter that he is the current focus of their search. He’s also set to meet with the Titans on Tuesday, so he may not make it to that Raiders interview later in the week.
Minter is slated for a second interview with the Browns as well.
Curt Cignetti has engineered a remarkable turnaround as head coach of Indiana, with the program set to play for the CFP national championship on Monday night.
But don’t expect Cignetti to potentially do something similar in the pros.
Asked if he would consider an NFL job on Saturday, Cignetti dismissed the idea.
“I’m not an NFL guy,” Cignetti said, via Brett McMurphy of On3.com. “I made that decision a long time ago. I’ve always been a college football guy.”
Cignetti has been a coach at the college level for decades and he’s won everywhere he’s been, most notably at James Madison from 2019-2023 and now at Indiana over the last two years.
While money can talk, it doesn’t seem like Cignetti has any interest in trying to translate his success to the pros.
Mike McDaniel’s travels across the country have been well documented on social media over the last week after he was fired by the Dolphins.
But he won’t need to get on another plane to take one of his next meetings.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, McDaniel will interview with the Raiders on Monday in South Florida.
Las Vegas’ top brass will be in town to watch Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza — the likely No. 1 overall pick — play in the CFP national championship game against the University of Miami. Pelissero notes that in the hours before that game, Raiders officials will meet with McDaniel about their head coach vacancy.
McDaniel has interviewed for a variety of head coach and offensive coordinator jobs since the Dolphins fired him last week. Atlanta, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tennessee have all spoken with McDaniel about a top job.
If McDaniel does not land a head coaching gig, he will likely be the most in-demand offensive coordinator candidate in the league.
The Raiders are beginning to set up second interviews with head coaching candidates.
Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Las Vegas is setting up an in-person interview with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero next week.
Evero interviewed virtually with the Raiders on Wednesday.
Evero has been the Panthers’ defensive coordinator since 2023, first taking the job under former head coach Frank Reich. While Carolina finished at the bottom of the league defensively in 2024, Evero helped turn the unit around to finish No. 16 in yards and No. 15 in points allowed in 2025.
Evero has coordinated two top-10 defenses — first with what the Broncos in 2022 (No. 7 in yards allowed) and then with the Panthers in 2023 (No. 4 in yards allowed).
Fowler notes the meeting between Evero and the Raiders is set to take place in South Florida.
Evero is also on the Steelers’ radar for their head coaching vacancy.
