Raiders predicted to hire veteran head coach with five division titles as Pete Carroll’s replacement originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Las Vegas Raiders are still on the hunt for a head coach, as the team has interviewed a plethora of candidates, but hasn’t come to a conclusion on who will replace Pete Carroll after they fired him at the end of the 2025 campaign.

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The head coaching market is beginning to dry up, as top candidates, such as John Harbaugh, Robert Saleh, and Kevin Stefanski, are off the board. However, there are still a ton of fantastic options remaining, especially former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott.

McDermott was fired by the Bills on Monday after their divisional round loss to the Denver Broncos.

Despite serving nine years in Buffalo and going through a lot, McDermott still wants to be a head coach in 2026. USA Today’s Jacon Camenker predicts the Raiders will win the McDermott sweepstakes and hire him as their new head coach.

“McDermott could be the ideal candidate to give Las Vegas some stability and get the team trending back in the right direction,” Camenker wrote.

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Before hiring McDermott as their head coach in 2017, the Bills posted just two winning seasons in the 13 previous years. When McDermott arrived, the franchise immediately became a respected winner.

During his nine-year tenure in Buffalo, McDermott led the Bills to five AFC East division titles, eight winning seasons, and two AFC Championship Game appearances. He also posted a regular-season record of 98-50.

McDermott is the definition of a stabilizer, and that’s exactly what the Raiders need right now. Las Vegas has had four straight losing seasons and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002.

There wouldn’t be a better hire for the Raiders than McDermott, as the 51-year-old would provide the leadership Las Vegas has lacked, and he could also maximize the talent on the team’s promising defense.

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If McDermott can bring along a capable offensive coordinator for presumed No. 1 overall pick and future Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and turn around the defense, brighter days will be ahead in Las Vegas.

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