Do Raiders Have a Top 10 Coaching Staff?

Heading into last season, the Las Vegas Raiders may have had the weakest coaching staff in the NFL. Antonio Pierce was going into his first year as a head coach, while offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was an underwhelming hire after the team failed to seal the deal with Kliff Kingsbury.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was the best coach on the staff, but there was only so much he could do. Fast forward a year, and the Raiders' coaching staff is held in much higher regard.

ESPN Ranks Raiders as Top-10 Coaching Staff

The Raiders could've gone in a number of different directions this offseason, but they chose to go the experienced route at head coach. The team hired former Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll.

Despite the fact that he's the oldest head coach in the NFL, Carroll is still considered one of the top coaches in the league. He decided to retain Graham as the defensive coordinator while hiring Chip Kelly to run the offense.

Ben Solak of ESPN ranked all of the coaching staff in the NFL and had the Raiders ranked at No. 9.

"It required an unspeakable amount of personal control to not put the Raiders in the top five," Solak wrote. "There are few head coaches I have more faith in than Carroll, who consistently does the following: gets great performance out of rookies; prepares backups well (and accordingly coaches around injury); and adjusts his defensive scheming to the players available, protecting them from their faults. There are few better culture coaches in football, but his scheming -- much lauded in the early 2010s -- has become underappreciated."

Is Raiders' Coaching Staff Really That Good?

On Solak's list, the Raiders' coaching is ranked ahead of teams that made the playoffs last season, like the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers.

On the surface, the Raiders don't have a weak link at head coach or either of the coordinator spots. Kelly is a bit of a question mark because he has been in college for the last several years, but his previous NFL experience should make the transition go smoothly.

Now, Las Vegas may have a strong coaching staff, but the roster still needs some work. Just because the Raiders' coaching staff is ranked ahead of several playoff teams doesn't mean the team is a playoff lock.