What Makes Raiders DL Coach Rob Leonard Special?

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of new faces in the building this upcoming season. The Silver and Black made a lot of moves to bring in the right personnel and players to help the team get back to winning a lot more games than they did last season.

The team is looking to get on the right path and give themselves and the fans something to cheer for all season long in 2025.

One coach that will be back with the Raiders from last season's team is defensive linemen coach Rob Leonard. When new head coach Pete Carroll took over the team, he wanted Leonard to stay. It was up in the air for a while because there were other teams interested in Leonard early on in the offseason. But Carroll got Leonard to come back with the team and be a big part of the defense next season.

Leonard is a huge part of why the Raiders' defensive line has been able to dominate over the last couple of seasons. Since coming to the Silver and Black, the Raiders' defensive line has gotten better each season under Leonard. Leonard could have gone elsewhere and gotten a defensive coordinator job, but he wanted to continue to build with the Raiders, and it is a huge step to get back better in 2025.

Leonard has made stars like Maxx Crosby, Adam Butler, and Christian Wilkins better players, and the rest of the guys are playing good football as well.

Our Hondo Carpenter talked about what makes Rob Leonard a special coach on a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"Here is exactly what I think, no ego," said Carpenter. "Great coaches have to be great listeners ... A great coach has to be able to have communication with his players. So if they are not getting it, they are not afraid of them."

"Robbie Leonard ... Maxx Crosby follows him around, the players follow him around. He is constantly coaching. What makes him a great coach is that he is a great listener. He is a tremendous listener, and he does not listen with ego. Good coaches do not listen with ego."