The Las Vegas Raiders have had Patrick Graham as the defensive coordinator since 2022. After one year of success, it was time for a change at the position, with new head coach Klint Kubiak becoming the leader of the franchise. He kept it in-house by promoting defensive line coach Rob Leonard to take over the DC role and by building one of the youngest staffs in the league.
Leonard has built a staff around him with an emphasis on teaching. He feels that is what he does best and how he can get the most
out of the young defense. Leonard wants the team to play fast and not worry about mistakes when they can be corrected.
“Yeah, I’m a little crazy. I would like them to play fast, even at the cost of a mental error.
I don’t like to see hesitation on the field,so even if you’re unsure, make a decision and go and let us coach.
Let us do our job, but I don’t want any slow blinkers out there. So, still going into how we play box, how
we attack the ball, how we run to the ball. Can’t take it away if you don’t run to the ball, like, and just
staying with that mindset and instilling confidence in them that they can play that way, that they have the
freedom from me. Like, I don’t care about a bust over that. It’s not the difference of winning and losing to
me.”
It is an unorthodox approach by Leonard, with most coaches not giving their players that much leeway. With plenty of fresh faces on defense, players can feel a sense of freedom and not worry about semantics, which can lead to mistakes. It could be a strategy that upsets fans in the short term but leads to long-term success.
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