After hosting several candidates for their defensive coordinator job, the Raiders opted to stick with a familiar face. The new defensive coordinator for the Raiders is defensive line coach Rob Leonard.
Leonard interviewed with the team for the Raiders DC job under new head coach Klint Kubiak on Thursday.
He was one of a handful of coaches who the Raiders kept after a housecleaning last week.
Leonard has been with the Raiders since 2023. He has garnered a great deal of praise from his players in his three seasons in Las Vegas, most notably from star edge rusher Maxx Crosby who enjoyed his best season as a pro in Leonard's first season at the post.
The 13-year NFL coach began his career with the Giants. He moved his way up to outside linebackers coach in 2018 before spending three seasons in Miami and then one season in Baltimore.
Defensive coordinator will be a big job in Las Vegas because Kubiak is an offensive head coach, so the defensive coordinator will have greater responsibility including calling all the plays on defense.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders stay in-house for defensive coordinator hire