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Jack Del Rio to be the next Raiders’ head coach?

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Jack Del Rio is rumored to be a strong candidate to be the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders.


With the NFL‘s divisional round of the playoffs this weekend, Denver Broncos‘ defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is presumably focused on just how the heck his team is going to stop Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. Whenever he is able to focus on other things, however, it sounds like Del Rio might have earned himself another head coaching gig.

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The longtime head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Del Rio has been the defensive coordinator in Denver since 2012. His experience has linked him to head coaching gigs the last couple off-seasons, but it sounds like those rumors are heating up on a different level this year.

According to Omar Kelly, Jack Del Rio is likely to be the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders hiring a former Broncos defensive coordinator as their head coach  – what could possibly go wrong?

Oakland already went this route with their last hiring, plucking Dennis Allen away from the division rival Broncos in 2012. Allen went 8-28 in less than three years on the job and was fired after an 0-4 start this season.

That win-loss record probably reflects a lack of organizational talent as much as it does anything that Allen did, but it still seems like a bold move for the Raiders to go back to the “Broncos defensive coordinators” well for a second consecutive head coach hiring.

For his part, Del Rio insists that he is just focused on coaching the Broncos in the playoffs. “There’s really nothing to balance,” Del Rio said, via the Denver Post. “You attack one when you have time to do it and then you attack the other as you always do. My life hasn’t changed.”

Del Rio did concede that his interview with the Raiders “went well,” however, which might support Kelly’s report.

One final note: have we reached a new level of ambiguity when it comes to “sources” if Kelly’s scoop about Del Rio and the Raiders ends up being correct? “Word on the street” is the new “sources”, apparently.

I’m looking forward to the day that ESPN cites “word on the street” instead of “media reports” when they aren’t giving credit to other outlets.

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