Ranking the Raiders' Vacant HC Position as Interviews Begin

The Las Vegas Raiders' most critical decision early in the offseason is which coach to hire to lead their team forward. Las Vegas has a laundry list of critical issues they must solve sooner rather than later.

Ranking the Raiders' Vacant HC Position

The Raiders will hire their third coach in three seasons. This is arguably the most compelling position the company has held in any of those periods. Las Vegas is essentially a blank slate, as the roster must be overhauled. Still, Judy Battista of NFL.com ranked it as the seventh-best open position.

"There is plenty of intrigue here, especially surrounding the involvement of Tom Brady, a minority owner, in the coaching search (he was involved before the Carroll hire and is expected to play a key role again) and how pivotal his opinion will be in deciding what to do with the most important thing the Raiders can offer their candidates: the No. 1 overall draft pick," Battista said.

"That means the Raiders could take their choice of quarterbacks, though their roster needs go well beyond that position. After the failure of the Carroll experiment, it's reasonable to think the Raiders will go with a younger, offense-minded head coach," Battista said.

"Whoever it is, his first order of business should be mending fences with, the Raiders' elite pass rusher, Maxx Crosby, who was furious over the Raiders' decision to shut him down with two games to go. But this is a long rebuild -- the Raiders are the worst team in the league by a not particularly close margin, and they are in the AFC West, one of the toughest divisions in the game."

Shortly after the Raiders fired Carroll, General Manager John Spytek explained the decision, noting that the team's possession of the No. 1 draft pick did not factor into it. However, it is undeniable that the pick makes the Raiders' vacant head-coaching position more attractive to potential candidates.

"Just because we have the first pick in the draft, that didn't carry a lot of weight in the decision that we made. I think we have a great opportunity to build this franchise the right way now. We never want to be in the spot again. I never thought I would be in the spot, but we got to be real with where we're at. We have to understand the opportunity that we have in front of us, and our focus and our vision is on everything going forward now," Spytek said.

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