New Las Vegas Raiders Defensive Coordinator Search Underway

The replacement for former defensive coordinator Paul Guenther's opening is well underway in Las Vegas

Head coach Jon Gruden made it clear that the Las Vegas Raiders will find a new defensive coordinator quickly.

After the Week 14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Paul Guenther, the defensive coordinator at the time, was fired less than three hours after the clock hit zero.

For the last three weeks of the season, defensive line coach Rod Marinelli has served as the interim defensive coordinator.

While Marinelli might not get the permanent position, Gruden made it clear that he is expected to remain a vital part of the defensive coaching staff.

“We expect Rod to be a good part of this defense moving forward,” Gruden said on Monday. “I think he’s as good as there is really on that side of the ball. He’s proven that for a long time. And yes, we’ll begin our search tomorrow, we plan to move quickly and we're excited about this process.”

With the search underway, top candidates for the job include Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley alongside Atlanta Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris and Los Angeles Rams linebacker coach Joe Barry.

The Raiders officially requested the Charger's permission to interview Bradley on Monday. Bradley remains under contract with the Chargers for a couple more weeks.

Ian Rapoport was the first to report the news.

The #Raiders have now officially requested permission to interview #Chargers DC Gus Bradley for their vacant DC job, source said. A top candidate, along with #Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris (if he doesn’t get a head coaching job) and #Rams assistant Joe Barry.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 4, 2021

While it’s still early in the search for a new defensive coordinator, in the coming days, I’ll be taking a deeper look at resumes for Bradley, Morris and Barry.

As for now, the Silver and Black aren’t taking a breather just because the off-season hit. They're already hard at work preparing for the fall.

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