Pete Carroll lasted one season, and the next hire will be judged less on press conferences than on whether Las Vegas finally looks operational on Sundays. As it stands, the Las Vegas Raiders will be doing plenty of interviews. Among those could be Robert Saleh, the former New York Jets head coach.
Saleh makes sense due to his extensive track record, namely due to the defenses he’s assembled. The reporting around the league has long framed Saleh as a coach who draws real interest because he builds a weekly floor: alignment, tackling standards, situational discipline and a defense that does not collapse when the roster takes hits. If the Raiders want to stop living on extremes—a good quarter here, a catastrophic half there—that profile matters.
Hiring Saleh is not the point. His offensive staffing is. The Jets’ tenure exposed the same risk: a defensive head coach can steady the team, but quarterback development fails if the offense stays unstable. If the Raiders take a quarterback at No. 1, they are drafting a clock—and the clock dies when the offensive plan changes every year.
How would Mike McDaniel fit with Saleh and the Raiders?
That is where the Mike McDaniel angle matters. If he is available, he is not a coordinator who simply calls plays. He brings a defined offensive system: a run-game structure that feeds play-action, built-in answers for pressure, and a pass game designed to create spacing and quick decisions. Pair that with Saleh’s defensive baseline and the Raiders shift from “hope the quarterback works” to “build an environment where the quarterback can function.”
The problem is leverage. McDaniel will draw head-coaching interest, and an offensive coordinator stop could be temporary. If the Raiders pursue this, they cannot sell chemistry. They must lock down the structure. Who controls the offensive vision? Who owns the quarterback’s development plan? What does the succession plan look like if McDaniel leaves after one season?
Saleh plus McDaniel is not a storyline. It is a high-variance staff build. It either produces continuity by design, or it becomes another reset dressed up as a solution.
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