As of yesterday, the Las Vegas Raiders seemed to be coming together as a coaching staff, with the news breaking that former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was in talks to become the team’s new offensive coordinator.
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case, with Kingsbury reportedly now having pulled out of contract talks with the Raiders, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
A twist in Las Vegas: Kliff Kingsbury has withdrawn himself from consideration for the offensive coordinator job of the Raiders, per his agent @ErikBurkhardt. pic.twitter.com/IKmSPT7PaM
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2024
Kingsbury has been linked to the Raiders for quite some time, with Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports being the first to report the link. Cowherd claimed that if the team removed the interim tag and officially hired Antonio Pierce as the team’s head coach moving forward, Kingsbury would likely become the new offensive coordinator.
Even though Kingsbury flamed out as the head coach of the Cardinals, he is still considered to be an offensive guru and someone who could elevate an offense, which is something the Raiders could use under Pierce, considering he’s got a defensive approach.
Along with being an upgrade at the offensive coordinator position, Kingsbury also has ties to USC superstar Caleb Williams, which sparked some speculation that the team might try to trade up for him in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. Obviously, that speculation can come to an end now, with no telling what the team will do come draft day. The Raiders currently own the No. 13 overall pick.
As for Kingsbury, it seems that he might be on his way to the nation’s capital to join Dan Quinn’s coaching staff. The Washington Commanders cleaned house as expected and seemed to be going after Kingsbury, according to Albert Breer of MMQB.
A contractual hang-up led to there being an opening on Kliff Kingsbury, and the Commanders are among the teams that swooped in to try and hire Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. Kliff-to-DC is in play. https://t.co/I1MDgsvr8h
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 3, 2024
With Kingsbury no longer an option for the Raiders, the search continues for a new offensive coordinator, with only a handful of viable candidates left on the open market, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN points out.
Few nuggets on #Raiders search, now that it’s back on.
-Luke Getsy was considered strong candidate during the process
-Raiders recently spoke to Eric Bieniemy about the OC job, per sources.
-Vegas also spoke to Pep Hamilton, though that might have been for a positional job.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 3, 2024
It’ll be interesting to see what direction the Raiders go from here and who might be in line to be the new offensive coordinator under Pierce.
