The Raiders fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther with a few games left in the season, and now that 2020 is over Jon Gruden needs to find a replacement. The day after Week 17, the search is already heating up.
Las Vegas is interested in Chargers DC Gus Bradley and has requested an interview with the former Jaguars head coach, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). With Los Angeles firing Anthony Lynn Monday, it appears unlikely Bradley will be back with the Chargers in 2021, so it’d be surprising if they blocked the interview. Rapoport calls him a “top candidate” for the job of turning around the Raiders’ lackluster defense.
Bradley’s defenses have played at a high level at times during his four years with the Chargers, but they also severely underperformed their talent this season. Of course he was also dealt some unlucky blows, like the significant injuries to guys like Derwin James, Chris Harris, Melvin Ingram, and Joey Bosa. Bradley had an uninspiring run as the Jags’ head coach from 2013-16, where he went 14-48. He initially received recognition for coordinating the Seahawks’ impressive defense from 2009-12.
If Bradley doesn’t end up with the gig, Rapoport identifies a couple of other potential candidates as well. That being Falcons interim head coach Raheem Morris and Rams linebackers coach Joe Barry. As Rapsheet notes, Morris could land a head coaching job this cycle.
Interestingly, Morris coached under Gruden in Tampa Bay, and then took over as the Bucs’ head coach in 2009 when Gruden was fired. Barry was also on Gruden’s Tampa Bay staff, and has been an assistant head coach/linebackers coach under Sean McVay the past four seasons.
“With Los Angeles firing Anthony Lynn Monday, it appears unlikely Bradley will be back with the Chargers in 2021, so it’d be surprising if they blocked the interview”
In the article before this one (about Brian Daboll), you said teams can’t block assistants from taking interviews. Which one is it? Genuinely asking.
if its a lateral move (DC->DC) they can. if its a promotion (OC->HC) they cant
Ah, ok. Thanks for the info.
Basically they can’t block for promotions. If it’s management oriented, for example, the interview can be considered a promotion if the job offers roster control if the candidate did not have that before.
Anyone taking the DC in Vegas better hope they give them more talent. Weak defense for years.
The Raiders have talent. We drafted and signed guys. They didn’t all get bad after they came to the Raiders. some of this has to be the coaching.
IRT to Morris, I read up until this point, “After the team’s pass defense fell to 19th in 2006, Morris helped the pass defense achieve the league’s top ranking in 2007.”. Sight unseen, he has to be an improvement.
Gus Bradley was a horrible head coach, and a less then spectacular D-Cord. He has one bright spot in his career and that was DC in Seattle, and they improved when he left.
Bradley runs a 3-4 hybrid with press coverage. You can expect the AFC West TE to all look like HOF candidates when they play the Raiders. Noah Fant, Hunter Henry, and Travis Kelce will be your top 10 fantasy grabs for those who pay attention.
Looks like — with the 17th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft the LV Raiders select NT Christian Barmore Alabama.
As a Charger fan, I say please take him. The Chargers have so much talent on defense and totally underachieve year after year under Bradley. The least aggressive defense in football. H of w many double didget
leads have they blown under him?
Bradley has commonly run a 4 man front, not a 3 man front. He did that in Jacksonville and Seattle as well. Of course, base defenses are rarely the most common fronts these days in the NFL with everybody running the nickel. Bradley excelled with that approach two years ago, which saw Heyward, King, and James all have big years in the secondary.
Ingram and Boss rarely stand up in the Chargers’ scheme. The Raiders are short at linebacker and deep at DE (albeit with average to above players and no real standouts other than Crosby. They have plenty of options, but none really produce consistently other than, again, Crosby, which is why they need an upgrade). This kind of roster makeup generally leads to a lot of nickel looks, but the problem for Vegas there is that nickel looks are reliant on good corner play and a versatile and deep secondary. The Raiders need help on defense no matter who they hire at the end of the day, but it really would not be surprising to see them hire Bradley and draft more corners to try and play a two linebacker/three defensive back scheme next year.
Thing is, they still aren’t getting enough pressure up front to play that as of this past year, so even that may take some time to put together-unless Ferrell or one of the rotational guys makes a huge jump this next year.
I would like to see Gruden stop hiring his old buddies, and look at the hole picture, When it comes to hiring the next D/C. I read that Wade Phillips wanted a shot at coaching this young Raiders defense. And I think that’s what the Raiders need is a proven coach that can develop this young defense. It’s not like they don’t have the talent, the team just need someone that can develop young players to the NFL level. If you look at Phillips record since he became the Defense coordinator on any team he coach on they been in the top twenty defense in the league not to mention the super bowl wins with Denver and LA Rams. And if the Raiders want to turn this team around then I think the best person to hire is Wade Phillis.