Las Vegas Raiders entering next phase of coaching search

There is a common thought circulating in the social media world that the Las Vegas Raiders should and will hire an offensive-minded coach to work with what is expected to be a new quarterback, possibly Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

And that inclination has been shown early in the search process.

Nine of the 14 candidates who have been interviewed come from an offensive background.

But the organization’s brain trust is spending some of its time in South Florida scouting Mendoza in the national championship game meeting with two of the top young defensive coaches on the market.

Closer look at candidates

The Raiders conducted second interviews with Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, 42, and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, 45.

Minter grew up in coaching as his father, Rick, was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati for a decade.

Rick Minter has remained in coaching, serving as a senior defensive analyst for the Chargers this season.

Jesse Minter has been in demand this hiring cycle after helping lead the Chargers to a second consecutive postseason appearance in two years on the job.

He came to Los Angeles with Jim Harbaugh two years ago after they won a national championship at Michigan, where Minter was the team’s defensive coordinator.

Raiders minority owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek played together at Michigan.

While Minter has earned his stripes as a defensive coach, he did play wide receiver in college at Mount St. Joseph.

He entered coaching at the collegiate level, spending time with Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Georgia State and Indiana State before he was hired by John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens in 2017. He worked his way up to defensive backs coach before being hired as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator.

Jesse Minter had a show-cause penalty imposed by the NCAA in April. The sanction means he can’t coach in college for one year after getting hired because of penalties from recruiting. The NFL does not enforce those sanctions.

Evero, who was born in England and raised in Rancho Cucamonga, California, signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent after his collegiate career as a safety at UC Davis. He did not make the team and returned to Davis as an assistant coach the following year.

He cut his NFL coaching teeth in stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams before earning his first defensive coordinator job with the Denver Broncos in 2022.

Evero spent one season in that job before taking a similar position with the Panthers in 2023.

He has produced two top-10 defenses in four years as a coordinator.

McDaniel out of the mix

One of the possible offensive-minded coaches who had spoken to the Raiders about their job was taken off the market Tuesday.

Former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is on the verge of becoming the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. He told the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from consideration for their head coaching job.

The move comes a day after the Raiders interviewed McDaniel in Miami.

McDaniel was also believed to be a candidate for the Ravens’ head coaching job and had been connected to the offensive coordinator job in Detroit, but the Lions hired Drew Petzing. Tampa Bay and the Philadelphia Eagles also had been pursuing McDaniel as an offensive coordinator.

The Tennessee Titans also reportedly had interest in McDaniel as offensive coordinator after hiring Robert Saleh as head coach. They worked together with the Houston Texans and 49ers.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.