Klint Kubiak isn’t afraid to go after one of the guys who stopped his offense in the regular season as his new defensive coordinator
The Raiders need a good defensive coordinator.
The Las Vegas Raiders are building their staff around new head coach Klint Kubiak. They have already hired assistant head coach Mike McCoy, who served as the Tennessee Titans’ interim head coach last season.
In addition to this move, Vegas has also interviewed former Raiders defensive line coach Rob Leonard for the open DC position, along with other offensive coordinator candidates. This could be an attempt to make Maxx Crosby happy, as the defensive end has a very strong relationship with Leonard. Now, another DC candidate has been added to the list.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rappoport, Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant has been requested to interview for the Raiders’ DC job and will meet with them on Friday. This is only the second guy to interview for the DC position, which will be much more crucial than the OC position, as the DC will call plays, but Kubiak will call the shots on offense.
Pleasant helped shut down the Seahawks’ offense once in 2025
The Rams and the Seahawks played three times in 2025. They’re NFC West divisional opponents, which means they already play twice in the season. However, they played once in the postseason, too, which is where Kubiak got the better of LA, going on to win the Super Bowl.
When these two teams met in Week 11, Pleasant helped the Rams hold the Seahawks to just 19 points and handed Seattle one of its three total losses on the year. The Rams held the Seahawks to under 280 passing yards and kept Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, under 70 rushing yards. Obviously, Pleasant wasn’t the DC or calling the plays, but he helped put together that gameplan.
Las Vegas is looking in the right direction. Kubiak mentioned he’s looking for teachers, not coaches, for the positions. So far, he’s looked at the Rams and Seahawks for coaches on his staff, two teams with great coaching staffs and known to produce great teachers in the coaching tree.
Las Vegas Raiders News
Klint Kubiak has already won over the Raiders fan base in a unique way and he hasn’t even started the job yet
The Raiders are excited to have Kubiak, and he’s excited to be a Raider.
