Raiders finalizes their official coaching staff

The Antonio Pierce era is officially underway in Las Vegas. Pierce mentioned his biggest point of emphasis when hiring his staff  was adding as much experience around him as possible. With the announcement of the Raiders coaching staff it seems Pierce accomplished that goal.

Former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, who worked with Pierce at Arizona State, will be the assistant head coach. Lewis led the Bengals to seven playoff berths, going 131-122-3 from 2003-18. He was a key advisor when Pierce became the interim coach midway through last season.  

Luke Getsy will be the team’s offensive coordinator. Getsy brings experience in calling plays in live NFL games serving as the Bears offensive coordinator the last couple of seasons. The positives of Getsy is he incorporates the running game heavy in his offense.  Getsy authored the league's Nos. 1 and 2 rushing offenses in 2022 and 2023, respectively (the Bears averaged 177.3 and 141.1 yards per game on the ground those seasons), Chicago was last in passing in 2022 (130.5) and 27th this past season (182.1). The Bears were number 20 in offense last season.

Getsy will be joined by wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett, offensive line coach James Cregg, senior offensive assistant Joe Philbin, offensive assistant De’Andre Pierce, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello, assistant tight ends coach Mitch Singler, tight ends coach Luke Steckel, pass game coordinator Scott Turner, assistant quarterbacks coach Fred Walker, running backs coach Carnell Williams, and offensive assistant Tim Zetts. Guys of note here are Joe Philbin and Carnell Williams. 

Philbin went 24-28 as the Dolphins head coach from 2012-15 and was 2-2 as the Green Bay Packers interim coach in 2018. He was an offensive analyst at Ohio State last season, but most of his NFL career was under Mike McCarthy as the offensive line coach in Green Bay and with the Dallas Cowboys. Philbin also was the Packers offensive coordinator from 2007-11. Williams was a former NFL running back and served as an interim coach at Auburn. 

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham returns from last season. He will be aided by safeties coach Gerald Alexander, run game coordinator/linebackers coach Mike Caldwell, pass rush specialist Andre Carter, assistant defensive backs coach Matt Feeney, defensive line coach Rob Leonard, assistant linebackers coach Marcus Lewis, cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr., defensive assistant Josh Phillips, and senior defensive assistant Rob Ryan. Caldwell spent the last two seasons as the Jaguars defensive coordinator.

Tom McMahon is the special team's coordinator with Kade Rannings and Derius Swinton assisting him. A.J. Neibel is the head strength and conditioning coach. D’Anthony Batiste, Deuce Gruden, and Rick Slate will work with him while Matt Sheldon will assist Pierce with game management. The Raiders were able to retain key coaches such as Patrick Graham, Tom McMahon, Rob Ryan, Rob Leonard and Edgar Bennett. Raiders were also able to retain all of its strength and conditioning team. With the coaching staff now fully intact the next step is free agency and NFL draft.