Raider Nation, rejoice; the Las Vegas Raiders have landed John Spytek. Officially.
Sin City laid their first brick of the Tom Brady era on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with John Spytek for the team’s general manager position. Now, with the head of the front office figured out, it’s time for the Las Vegas Raiders to shift their attention to hiring a head coach.
Fortunately, Spytek comes with a notable coaching connection who serves as a phenomenal option for the available job: current Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Monken held the title of offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016-2018, working with Spytek through each of those years. Spytek, the team’s vice president of player personnel at the time, got first-hand experience at what the 58-year-old offensive guru is capable of.
Despite having underwhelming quarterback play, in addition to a running back room that didn’t feature any amount of premier backs, Monked led Tampa Bay’s offense to notable success. During the 2017 season, with Jameis Winston at quarterback and a duo of Doug Martin and Peyton Barber who each totaled less than 430 yards rushing in the backfield, the Buccaneers ended their ’17 campaign with the seventh-most yards per game league-wide (363.5).
2018 yielded even better results for Monken’s offense. With 415.5 yards per outing, only two teams across the NFL beat out the Buccaneers in this category. The scoring went up, too, jumping to 24.8 points scored on a weekly basis.
Can John Spytek land the Las Vegas Raiders an offensive mastermind head coach?
These days, Monken spends his time calling offensive plays for the Baltimore Ravens; a job he’s held since 2023.
Monken’s first year in this role resulted in his quarterback, Lamar Jackson, winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award. Baltimore finished the season with the sixth-most yardage per contest in addition to the fourth-most scoring total.
His second season with the Ravens hasn’t been much different–better, even. With an average of 424.9 yards per week, each and every other club in the NFL posted at least 25 less yards on average. As far as scoring goes, Monken’s squad was one-of-three teams to put up 30-plus points on a weekly basis.
And, once again, Lamar Jackson is in prime position to lift the Most Valuable Player Award with the help of his offensive coordinator.
This success sounds too good to ignore, right? The Raiders thought so too. That’s why they’ve requested to interview Monkin for their vacant head coaching job, prior to getting Spytek on board.
Although Monken seems to be in no rush to secure a head coaching gig, the presence of Spytek in Sin City may change that. Should that happen, Las Vegas will walk away with an offensive guru at head coach, even after missing out on the likes of Ben Johnson and Liam Coen.
The concerns
As impressive as Monken’s resume is – and boy, is it impressive – he doesn’t come without concerns.
For one, the Ravens offensive play-caller is two years shy of hitting 60 years of age. He isn’t exactly a ‘young, up-and-coming coach.’ However, when factoring in 73-year-old Pete Carroll being considered the front-runner for Las Vegas’ head coaching job, 58 might as well be 45.
Secondly, Monken has never been a head coach in the National Football League. There’s a big difference between being a successful coordinator and successful head coach, and being one certainly doesn’t mean you’re automatically the other.
Again, when considering Ben Johnson had this same question mark attached to him, yet was the darling of this year’s coaching cycle, it’s hardly a concern. Even if Johnson is 20 years younger; it’s still the same end result.
Monken does come equipped with some head coaching experience, however, though not at the pro-level. Between 2013-2015, the seasoned coach led Southern Miss’ football program, winning C-USA Coach of the Year during his ’15 campaign. His next stop in college was manning Georgia’s offense from ’20-’22, helping Georgia win two National Championships.
Wherever he goes, whatever his job is, whether college or professional, Monken has enjoyed an incredible amount of success. If the Las Vegas Raiders are lucky, they’ll be the next team to benefit from Monken’s abilities.
*Top Photo: Pewter Report