Last week, the Raiders cleaned out their staff, officially removing a large portion of staff from the coaching staff listed on their website. But not all of them. Several coaches remained listed on the site and one of then was probably the most respected coach on that staff -- defensive line coach Rob Leonard.
Now Leonard is being given the opportunity to interview to be the team's next defensive coordinator.
The #Raiders are expected to interview DL coach and run game coordinator Rob Leonard for their DC position, per source.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 12, 2026
Very notable, as Leonard is one of the coaches Maxx Crosby respects the most in the building. Leonard has had interest from other teams this cycle. pic.twitter.com/9fl0FqxsGe
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.
Leonard has been an NFL assistant since 2013 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 presumably the defensive coordinator will have greater responsibility including calling all the plays on defense.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Klint Kubiak looking at respected in-house candidate for Raiders DC