Rich Bisaccia expected to coach Raiders for remainder of season

The Raiders have named assistant head coach and special teams coach Rich Bisaccia as their interim head coach, replacing Jon Gruden.

Bisaccia will be in charge on Wednesday when the Raiders begin preparations for Sunday’s game against the Broncos. He is expected to remain as coach through the remainder of the season.

The move enables the two coaches on the team’s staff with NFL head-coaching experience — defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and offensive line coach Tom Cable — to remain in their current spots and devote all their energy to their units.

Bisaccia is not considered a long-term candidate, but his presence as sort of a CEO allows the other members of the coaching staff to focus on their current responsibilities without disruption.

Bisaccia, 61, has been coaching since 1983 and has spent the last 19 years at the NFL level as a respected special teams coach. He coached under Gruden in Tampa Bay in the mid-2000s. When Gruden took over the Raiders in 2018, he brought Bisaccia with him.

Prior to joining the Raiders, Bisaccia was with the Cowboys (2013-17), Chargers (2011-12) and Buccaneers (2002-10).

A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Bisaccia graduated from New Fairfield High School in Connecticut before attending Yankton College in South Dakota from 1979-1982. At Yankton, he was a four-year starter at defensive back. After concluding his playing career, he earned a bachelor of science degree in physical education from Wayne State, where he also began his coaching career.

As the Raiders move on from Gruden, they face a short- and long-term challenge of trying to salvage the current season while identifying and securing the future face of the franchise.

Gruden resigned Monday amid a self-inflicted controversy in which a series of racist, homophobic and sexist comments by him were uncovered in a series of emails over a long period of time.

The team’s short-term challenge is making sure the Gruden situation doesn’t completely sabotage their season, beginning Sunday in Denver. That challenge now falls on Bisaccia.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.