It’s been a wild week for the Raiders front office. Not long after numerous media outlets, including ESPN and TSN reported that former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury would be joining Las Vegas as their new offensive coordinator, the 44 year old announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration.
The latest rumours now have Kingsbury, along with former Eagles OC Brian Johnson, 49ers QB coach Brian Griese and TE coach Brian Fleury, and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly linked to the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator role.
However that still leaves Las Vegas in need of a new OC on new head coach Antonio Pierce’s staff. Enter, former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
The 39 year old was fired by Chicago last month, and has been making the rounds on the coordinator interview circuit of late, including having a meeting with the Raiders previously.
Getsy’s offenses ranked 17th in points per game, while leading the NFL in rushing in 2022, and finishing 2nd in 2023. However Chicago’s lack of passing prowess was ultimately his undoing in the Windy City as the Bears finished last in passing yards per game in 2022 and 27th in 2023.
When asked what he was looking for in a new offensive coordinator, Pierce replied “You’ve got to be able to run the football, play-action pass…What are the Raiders known for? The vertical passing game, right? We want to see the shots down the field. We want the explosive plays. That has to be a part of the creativity. You look at the shifts, the motions, all that stuff goes into it … just think of when Raiders were playing really good football, and that’s going to be your offensive coordinator, hopefully, as we go forward.”
The Raiders new head coach also mentioned that he wanted a “minimum 24 points” per game out of whomever assumed the new role. However that may be a tall task for a team which currently features uncertainty at the quarterback position heading into 2024.
Armed with the 13th pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Las Vegas is largely expected to move on from the failed Jimmy Garoppolo experiment under former head coach Josh McDaniels. And while rookie QB Aidan O’Connell showed flashes of promise last season, if the Raiders are able to acquire an established QB or move up in the draft to acquire their franchise signal caller, there few around NFL circles who would be surprised if the organization opted to head in a different direction.
And it’s in that respect that the Raiders hope the Getsy hiring will pay dividends. A former quarterback himself, the Munhall, Pennsylvania native has also spent time as the Green Bay Packers Offensive quality control coach, WR coach, QB coach, and passing game coordinator, along with being the offensive coordinator and WR coach at Mississippi State.
All that time spent focusing on the passing game is expected to unlock a new dimension of the Raiders offense that’s largely been missing for the last several seasons. A vertical passing game.
Vegas has relied largely on a “ground and pound” style of offense, led by All-Pro RB Josh Jacobs. However after shelling out $140M over 5 years to lock up WR Davante Adams, the Raiders passing game has been largely disappointing since the former Packer came to the desert.
So while the reasons behind Kingsbury’s withdrawal from the hiring process remain murky, Las Vegas is banking on Getsy’s familiarity with Adams, and his experience developing young quarterbacks to help unlock a new dimension for the team’s offense in 2024.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Kyle Engmann. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.