A look at the process over the years
As the Las Vegas Raiders get going on their head-coaching search to replace the fired Antonio Pierce, let’s dive into Mark Davis’ history of hiring coaches.
And it’s been quite a history. Davis is about to hire his sixth full-time head coach in just over 13 years after taking over for his late father, Al Davis. This will be Davis’ third search in three years:
2012
This came just a few months after Davis took over. He hired general manager Reggie McKenzie to be the primary decision maker after his father’s death. They moved on and McKenzie targets young Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as the head coach.
2015
Allen was fired early in the 2014 season. Tony Sparano took over as the interim coach. Davis hired Jack Del Rio, who replaced Allen in Denver, as the head coach. Davis targeted Del Rio early in the process. I was told McKenzie was interested in keeping Sparano, but Davis went with Del Rio.
2018
Reports that Davis was making head way with Jon Gruden to make a return to the franchise surfaced before the end of the 2017 season. That speculation built when Del Rio announced his own firing minutes after the season end. Davis soon struck a massive 10-year contract with Gruden, a coach he long coveted.
2022
After the Gruden saga ended in 2021, Davis decided to move on from Gruden hand-picked general manager Mike Mayock and focused his search around general manager-coach combinations. Davis was romanced by New England pair Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. Davis’ mistake was he thought McDaniels was a big splash hire. He wanted Jim Harbaugh multiple times and he landed Gruden. He thought McDaniels was the type of hire that would put the league on notice. But the truth was McDaniels fell out of favor with other teams after he left the Indianapolis Colts at the alter in 2018. McDaniels’ short tenure in Las Vegas proved he was anything but a splash hire,
2024
Perhaps he regretted not keeping interim coach Rich Bisaccia instead of hiring McDaniels after he led the Raiders to the playoffs after the Gruden fiasco. Pierce had strong player support as the interim coach after McDaniels was fired. In the end, Davis never truly conducted a coaching search and went with Pierce. Now, here we are again.
Conclusion:
Every search has been different. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and see how much influence part owner Tom Brady. It seems like a lot. Also, will Davis be focused on making another splash? It will be fascinating to see how yet another chapter in Davis’ hiring history unfolds.