The Oakland Raiders' new general manager Reggie McKenzie appeared poised to hire one of the coaches from his former organization to be the next head coach of the Raiders. It now appears that McKenzie is much more open minded about coaching candidates than was first suspected.
ESPN analyst Chris Mortenson reported yesterday that Miami Dolphins interim head coach Todd Bowles will interview for the vacant Raiders head coaching position. While Bowles name had not previously been linked to the Raiders, it makes some sense. After taking over the head coaching duties for the last three games of the season in Miami, teams have been taking a look at Bowles as a potential head coach.
Bowles is a former NFL safety who played for eight years, and even started in a Super Bowl. Bowles played seven of his years for the Washington Redskins, with one year in the middle of his career being spent with the San Francisco 49ers.
Before starting his NFL coaching career, Bowles spent three years in the college coaching ranks as a defensive coordinator at Morehouse College and Grambling state from 1997 to 1999. In 2000, he was given his first opportunity to coach in the pros when the New York Jets hired Bowles as a defensive backs coach. Then, Bowles spent four years witht he Cleveland Browns, from 2001 to 2004. First as the defensive nickel package coach, then as the secondary coach. In his final season with the Browns, they ranked fifth in the league in pass defense.
After Cleveland, Bowles landed with the Dallas Cowboys where he spent three years, from 2005 to 2008, as their secondary coach. During those three years, the Cowboys had the third highest number of interceptions in the NFC with 52. After Dallas, Bowles moved on to Miami as an assistant head coach and secondary coach, where he has been since 2008.
While Bowles does have minimal experience as a head coach since he served as Miami's interim head coach this season, three games is really not a lot to speak of. Regardless of that fact, Bowles has certainly drawn a lot of interest from teams looking for a head coach. It only makes sense that McKenzie will take a good look at all of the potential head coaching candidates available.