The Las Vegas Raiders have named Josh McDaniels the team’s head coach, which means he must now work to fill out the rest of his coaching staff. One major spot has already been filled as the team is bringing in Patrick Graham from the New York Giants to be the new defensive coordinator.
The other two coordinator positions have yet to be filled, with the special teams position being of particular interest, considering it was previously handled by Rich Bisaccia. He took over as interim coach following the resignation of Jon Gruden. Bisaccia is now expected to join the Green Bay Packers staff, and now the Raiders already seem to have their eyes on a replacement.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the team has shown interest in former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge to become their new special teams coordinator:
Raiders have shown interest in former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge becoming their special teams coordinator position, per source. Judge is staying patient with opportunities after two years in New York so this might not happen. But the New England connection is there.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 7, 2022
Judge was fired after just two seasons as Giants head coach, but as Fowler pointed out, this is far from a guarantee for the Raiders. He surely wants to make the right decision to ultimately get another chance as a head coach in the NFL, so he will take his time to ensure he does what is best for him.
But there is a connection with McDaniels and Ziegler for Judge as he spent eight seasons with the Patriots working with the special teams and was the special teams coordinator in New England from 2015 to 2019.
Making sure the special teams don’t drop off is of the utmost importance to the Raiders, and they already have their kicking specialists locked in with both Daniel Carlson and A.J. Cole signing extensions with the team. Regardless, McDaniels is hard at work putting together the staff that he believes will help take the Raiders to the next level.
