Oakland Raiders Rumors: Mike Holmgren a candidate

The Oakland Raiders head coaching search will be filled with plenty of exciting loops and turns, if the early rumors are any indication of what’s to come, especially when the season ends (assuming the Raiders don’t hire someone before then). Tony Sparano was a relatively easy choice to make as the interim coach following Dennis Allen’s necessary firing, as Sparano has plenty of experience leading teams (see the Miami Dolphins when they somehow clawed into the playoffs) and sound pretty fired up to inject some life into this Raiders team.

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It’s clear that Mark Davis and the Raiders are going to aim high, because they know that they need to nail it on their next head coach. Jon Gruden has, of course, already been linked to the Raiders opening, but there’s another former big-name coach on the Raiders radar, and the interest appears to be at least somewhat mutual right now.

Per multiple sources close to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, former Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Holmgren, who is also one of the most respected talent evaluators around the game, made a trip to the Raiders facilities earlier this week and is, for now, a legit candidate. Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie deserves to be out the door so that the team can hire a great GM-HC combo, but, in this case, PFT reports that Holmgren wouldn’t need to anoint his own GM. In that case, we can only hope he gets plenty of say in personnel decisions, since he was once the Cleveland Browns president.