Tom Brady will be in the booth to call the Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers playoff game for Fox on Saturday night. But he’ll likely have other things on his mind as his team, the Las Vegas Raiders, is set to settle into their head coaching search in Miami in the days following.
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Brady was instrumental in bringing Pete Carroll out of coaching retirement to take over the Raiders’ sinking ship last year. Unfortunately, Carroll and the staff Brady helped assemble fell short of expectations, so they’re going to have to try something new this time around.
While Brady was involved in the search last year, no one is sure just how involved he was. A recent report from The Athletic’s Diana Russini suggests that Brady is at least present for this year’s interview process.
“The Raiders have asked a few head coaching candidates to meet them in Miami at the national championship game, where Tom Brady is also expected to be,” reported Russini (via X).
Brady will head from Seattle to Miami over the weekend to be in town for the National Championship Game. And while the Raiders will be holding head coach interviews there, Brady and the Raiders’ brass are likely also in town to have a closer look at presumptive No. 1 overall pick and Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza.
Asking potential suitors to come to Miami rather than to their HQ in Vegas so Brady can be involved says a lot about how important Brady’s presence is for the Raiders’ brain trust.
One of the potential head coaches the Raiders are looking at is Mike McDaniel. An offensive wiz, McDaniel was certainly excellent at scheming up productive offensive plays during his time at the helm of the Miami Dolphins, though his ability to inspire and motivate his team is very questionable indeed.
Many believe McDaniel’s ideal position would be as an offensive coordinator, where all he has to worry about are X’s and O’s rather than the players themselves. If anyone could convince a former NFL head coach to take a demotion to offensive coordinator—and for a franchise as messy as the Raiders—it would be Brady.
McDaniel is far from Vegas’s only target, though. To this point, they have already interviewed eight other candidates for the job.
Those names include former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Denver Broncos pass game coordinator Davis Webb, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
