The Las Vegas Raiders didn’t just need a head coach this offseason-they needed the head coach. After swinging and missing on Ben Johnson last year and enduring a rocky one-and-done campaign under Pete Carroll, the franchise was in desperate need of a reset.
Enter Klint Kubiak, the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator and one of the most intriguing young minds in the game. According to reports confirmed by Seahawks GM John Schneider during Super Bowl LX media day, the Raiders have landed their guy.
This hire is about more than just plugging a vacancy. It’s about pairing a modern offensive thinker with a potential franchise quarterback-Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, the projected No. 1 overall pick. The Raiders are betting big on a clean slate, and Kubiak is the centerpiece of that vision.
Why Kubiak?
Let’s start with the pedigree. Klint Kubiak isn’t just a coach with a famous last name-he’s earned his stripes.
Raised in the game by his father, Super Bowl-winning coach Gary Kubiak, Klint has been steeped in the Shanahan-style offense since day one. He’s now running his own version of it, one that turned heads in Seattle last season for its explosiveness and adaptability.
Former Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who spent time around Kubiak in Denver, didn’t hold back when evaluating the move. “A+.
Whoever got Klint was going to get the A+,” Talib said on The Arena: Gridiron podcast. Talib praised Kubiak’s leadership, football IQ, and the energy he brings into a building.
“He’s just a great football mind and a great guy to be around in the building.”
Talib also pointed to the offensive pieces already in place in Vegas-tight end Brock Bowers, running back Ashton Jeanty, and the soon-to-be rookie quarterback Mendoza-as tools Kubiak can use to build something special. He even noted that the Raiders’ receiver room is underrated, and with a few more tweaks-like adding a true WR1 and shoring up the offensive line-this offense could be humming by next fall.
Not Everyone’s Sold-Yet
Still, not all reactions to the hire have been glowing. While some analysts see long-term upside, the immediate reception has been more cautious.
NFL Spin Zone ranked Kubiak’s hiring fifth out of ten new head coaching moves this cycle. Not bad, but not exactly a ringing endorsement either.
FanSided, USA Today, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal all handed out B+ grades for the move. FOX Sports was a bit more reserved with a B-. Solid, sure-but in a league where average gets you nowhere, those grades won’t exactly fire up Raider Nation.
But here’s the thing: these grades seem to say more about the Raiders’ recent past than Kubiak’s future. This is a franchise that’s cycled through coaches, missed on quarterbacks, and struggled to find a consistent identity. So when evaluators hesitate to go all-in on a hire, it might not be about Kubiak-it might be about Vegas.
A Calculated Gamble
There are some around the league who are betting on Kubiak to be the sleeper hit of this coaching cycle. Colin Cowherd and John Middlekauff both singled him out as the hire most likely to look like a home run in four years.
“This league is about GM, owner, quarterback, offensive weapons,” Cowherd said. “Kubiak, Brock Bowers, Fernando Mendoza, Spytek, Ashton Jeanty.” That’s a strong foundation, and Middlekauff added another layer-suggesting the Raiders could even explore trading Maxx Crosby to fully commit to a long-term rebuild under Kubiak and new GM Dave Ziegler’s successor, John Spytek.
That’s a bold idea, and one that would surely shake up the locker room and fanbase. But it speaks to the belief that, with Kubiak steering the ship, the Raiders finally have a vision worth building around.
The Bottom Line
For once, the Raiders didn’t settle. They went after their top choice and landed him. That alone is a win for a franchise that’s too often been playing catch-up.
Whether Kubiak becomes the next great offensive head coach or just the latest in a long line of Raider experiments will depend on what happens next. Can he develop Mendoza into a franchise QB?
Can he elevate the offense with the weapons already in place? Can he instill a culture that lasts longer than a single season?
Those are big questions-but for the first time in a while, Las Vegas has a plan. And if Kubiak delivers, don’t be surprised when all those B+ grades start looking a little low.