Raiders QB coach Rich Scangarello used one recent championship-winning team as inspiration
The Las Vegas Raiders have made a significant move to the country's entertainment capital, a city rapidly emerging as a major sports hub. In the past two years, we've witnessed the WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces, clinch championships, and the NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights, triumph in the Stanley Cup Finals. While the […]
The Las Vegas Raiders have made a significant move to the country's entertainment capital, a city rapidly emerging as a major sports hub. In the past two years, we've witnessed the WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces, clinch championships, and the NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights, triumph in the Stanley Cup Finals. While the Oakland Athletics are set to join the city in a few years, the Raiders stand out as the sole professional team yet to secure a championship on their home turf, a fact that adds to their potential for future glory.
Now, the Raiders have more history than either of those teams, with three total Super Bowls. However, they have not won a playoff game in 20 years or so and have only been to the playoffs once since being in town. So, it's imperative that they get that done soon, or they could be left behind as the third team in the city. Now, that's likely not going to happen, but with the other teams' success, you never know.
We know that the Raiders are trying to return to their glory days. They brought in Antonio Pierce, who was the official head coach this time, and he brought in a new staff member. One of those staffers is quarterback coach Rich Scangarello, who has already been in Vegas for some time now.
"I feel very fortunate to be back," Scangarello said this week before OTAs. "I mean, from top to bottom, I think the organization is in a great place. The facility they built here is as good as anyone in the league. The town, the city, living here; I've been in Vegas now for a little over a year actually, but just the people, you can feel the vibe, the community is always rallying around it, and I just feel like where we're at and where we're headed and the leadership and all that together, just the overall mentality of everyone involved. I think it's in a good spot and healthy spot and has a chance to be really special.
Scangarello will be working extremely closely with the quarterbacks, specifically Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell, as we try to figure out who will be the starter on day one of the 2024 NFL season. Scangarello saw success, not championship success but success nonetheless, with the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 as their QB coach. As that team went 10-7, you can guess that he is hungry for more.
Last year, he didn't work in the NFL. He moved to Las Vegas and actually stayed undeployed for a bit. While there, he drew some inspiration from another championship-winning team.
"I took last year off, recharged my batteries and it was a great experience," Scangarello said. "Honestly, I needed it, and yeah, I have a number of friends out here so I kind of enjoyed being out here. I'm a West Coast guy and it became my home. I experienced the Knights last year; it was phenomenal. And now it's our opportunity to do something similar."
The Las Vegas Raiders would love to be back at the top of the mountain, and they have some of the best tools possible to do that. Their roster is pretty great and doesn't have a ton of holes outside of the quarterback room. So, maybe it's really just up to him to decide if they can win or not. The Raiders will only be as successful as their quarterback can take them.
Chiefs’ Chris Jones in awe over the Raiders’ facilities during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas
The Chiefs and 49ers are in two for the Super Bowl.
