Thursday will give Klint Kubiak his first real taste of the Las Vegas Raiders’ full game-day responsibility. For the first time, he’ll call the plays while simultaneously coaching the game, putting his preparation and decision-making under a new kind of spotlight.
Kubiak will handle head coaching duties and play-calling at the same time on Thursday for the first time in his career, a dual role he described as “baptism by fire” heading into the Raiders’ next preseason outing.
The moment carries real weight for a first-year head coach still shaping his staff and culture. Kubiak has leaned on a deep group of assistants while also crediting general manager John Spytek and owner Mark Davis for letting him hire position coaches he trusts to run their rooms. Which, by doing so, frees him to focus on the big picture rather than every detail.
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Thursday’s test also matters for the Raiders’ evaluation process: with Kubiak’s attention split between managing the roster bubble and drawing up plays, coordinators like Joe DeCamillis and the offensive and defensive staffs will carry more of the in-game weight, and how smoothly that operation runs could shape confidence in the staff structure heading into the regular season.
Expect Kubiak to lean heavily on his staff’s real-time input Thursday rather than script everything himself, treating the game as much more of a leadership dry run as a play-calling one.
Do you think a first-year head coach juggling both jobs at once is a bigger risk than teams typically let on?
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