NFL rumors: 5 best Mike Vrabel landing spots with Patriots job off the table
By John Buhler
3. Las Vegas Raiders will be served going with a DC or CEO-type here
To me, it feels like a two-man race in Southern Nevada. The Las Vegas Raiders are either going to promote interim head coach Antonio Pierce from within or Mark Davis is going to do everything in his power to pry Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan. Of course, there could be a sleeper candidate, too. If the Raiders wanted to go in a different direction, I think it would be hard to top Vrabel coming aboard.
Vrabel is not your typical defensive-minded head coach. He will assemble a great staff and has an eye for talent in the NFL Draft. I think what led to his undoing in Nashville was the incongruence between the front office and everyone else. Strunk got rid of Jon Robinson to hire Ran Carthon to only fire Vrabel a year later. You cannot make a nice meal with bad ingredients. The Raiders have nice pieces.
With an opportunity to draft a great quarterback, the Raiders are a great landing spot for him. I think the issue in Las Vegas is that Davis is terrible at hiring general managers. His coaching hires have made a bit more sense. As long as Vrabel can partner up with a savvy front-office mind, I think he could have oodles of success in Las Vegas. He could wear the black hat and be their football rebel.
Not to say Davis will do it, but a wider candidate pool beyond Pierce and Harbaugh will serve him.