One ESPN analyst said he believes the Raiders should take a chance on their former running back Marshawn Lynch to fill their head coach vacancy.
Former Pro Bowl quarterback Robert Griffin III, who played eight NFL seasons, suggested Lynch as a potential candidate to take over the job long-term after Josh McDaniels was fired Wednesday.
Raiders owner Mark Davis fired McDaniels and general manage Brad Ziegler after 25 games, and will move forward this season with interim head coach Antonio Pierce.
“Alright…hear me out,” Griffin wrote in a post on X. “Marshawn Lynch should AT LEAST get a HEAD COACH interview with the Raiders this off-season.
“Lean into the Raider way, team becomes feared with his style and mentality. Load up his staff with experience and proven coordinators. Who says no?”
Griffin’s message was in response to a video of Lynch — who played for the Raiders from 2017-18, when they were in Oakland — explaining “the Raider way” in a post from the team’s official X account.
Fans mocked Griffin and compared it to his ESPN colleague, Jeff Saturday, temporarily leaving his job as an NFL analyst at ESPN to finish the 2022 season as interim head coach after the Colts fired Frank Reich nine games into the season.
Both Saturday — a former Pro Bowl center, who was enshrined in the Colts’ Ring of Honor in 2015 — and Lynch were accomplished players, who are without noteworthy coaching experience.
“Anyone who can’t see the difference between Marshawn Lynch getting a Head Coach INTERVIEW with the Raiders AFTER the season and my colleague Jeff Saturday getting the Interim Head Coach job straight off of TV DURING THE SEASON over coaches on the Colt’s staff that were in the daily grind with the players is doing it on purpose,” Griffin wrote in a separate post.
“All conversations have nuance to them and context and timing matters. If you want to boil it down to the color of someone’s skin then you are the problem.”
After a 26-14 loss to the Lions on “Monday Night Football” — which included a sideline outburst by receiver Davante Adams — Davis used the Oct. 31 trade deadline as a goalpost for making major changes.
“Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,” Davis told ESPN on Wednesday. “It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction.
“So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
Champ Kelly will serve as interim GM.
Quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree was promoted to offensive coordinator and play-caller.
The Raiders are replacing Jimmy Garoppolo with rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback.
Las Vegas’ loss to the Lions Monday followed an embarrassing defeat by the Chicago Bears and their rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent — who was making his first NFL start after going undrafted — on Oct. 22.
Davis was reportedly annoyed when McDaniels made the decision to start Brian Hoyer instead of O’Connell against the Bears, which resulted in Hoyer being pulled from the game after his second interception.
The rough losses reportedly were the final straw for Davis, who’s dealt with dysfunction since last season when the Raiders released Derek Carr after nine years at quarterback.
The Raiders (3-5) host the Giants (2-6) on Nov. 5.
