The Oakland Raiders are looking for a new head coach to take over into 2015 and Mark Davis has targets in Pep Hamilton, Doug Marrone, Jack Del Rio, Eric Mangini and interim coach Tony Sparano along with Pat Shurmur and Todd Bowles and this comes as the team may look at making major moves in the offseason, including potential trade deals fort Larry Fitzgerald or Mike Wallace.
The Raiders fired Dennis Allen during the season and put in Tony Sparano as interim coach and now Mark Davis is looking for the next man to take over. According to Fox Sports, the Raiders could be willing to "wait" for Pep Hamilton, as he is currently with the Colts and cannot be hired until the team loses in the playoffs. The team also has to wait to interview him since the Colts played this weekend and won against the Bengals. The report has the Bills and the Raiders as teams likely to wait for Hamilton, who has been a sought after name for a couple seasons.
Pro Football Talk describes the Raiders search as "unpredictable" and that right now there is no favorite to take over. PFT writes that Jack Del Rio is a potential candidate along with Hamilton, Doug Marrone and Eric Mangini, who served as a coach with the 49ers this season. The team likes Del Rio because he has past head coaching experience and he comes in after helping the Broncos improve on defense this year. The report also says that popular names like Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase have not been contacted by the Raiders yet.
ESPN.com reports that the Raiders have also reached out to Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator Scott Linehan as a head coaching candidate. The team will have to wait until the Cowboys lose or until they are allowed to interview, but Linehan could be a solid option, as he helped the Cowboys improve drastically on offense, helping Tony Romo to have one of his best seasons. Linehan previously was head coach of the Rams and he also worked as offensive coordinator with the Vikings and the Dolphins in the past.
The Raiders were one of the worst teams in the league last season, going 3-13 and finishing last in the AFC West again. The team went 1-5 against the division and opened with 10 straight losses and they ended up losing 11 of their first 12 games. The team was ranked 26th in passing yards per game and 32nd in rushing yards per game and now they need a major overhaul. The team likes what they have in Derek Carr, but they need more talent around him and now Reggie McKenzie and Mark Davis are trying to find a coach that can help make that happen.
Allen had won just eight games in the previous two years with the Raiders going 4-12 in the seasons before he was fired and now Allen is looking for a coach that can stick around for a while. Jim Harbaugh was considered a likely candidate, but he is now with Michigan, while Sparano did a solid job taking over as the interim coach. The Raiders are likely to pick someone from the offensive side of the ball.
