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I don't believe this was to appease Crosby, I think they more likely just think he has earned an opportunity and will be a good DC.

I've been onboard with this promotion for a couple of years - hope it works out.

BoKnows81 wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:13 pm Ok but to be fair, you are giving Kubiak the benefit of the doubt. Believe me, I love the hire of Kubiak but the reality is he's a first time head coach. We don't know that he knows what he doesn't know yet (if that makes sense).

It does, but I consider that the Mike McCoy. He hired a guy to help him know what he does not know. We have to assume he had Mike and Spytek in on his interviews so I think he may know what he does not know. And his pedigree is sound as well. And let's be honest, he has been doing this for a while. He may be an offensive guy but that also means he has had to study defenses. So he knows what a good defensive scheme is and that had to play into this.

And yea, i am also a fan so I am giving him a huge benefit of a doubt. Fans are not always logical.

Hope he can call a good defensive game plan. Does anyone know what type of scheme he favors?

Attyla wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:19 pm It does, but I consider that the Mike McCoy. He hired a guy to help him know what he does not know. We have to assume he had Mike and Spytek in on his interviews so I think he may know what he does not know. And his pedigree is sound as well. And let's be honest, he has been doing this for a while. He may be an offensive guy but that also means he has had to study defenses. So he knows what a good defensive scheme is and that had to play into this.

And yea, i am also a fan so I am giving him a huge benefit of a doubt. Fans are not always logical.

Yea well, people, players, teams, and especially THIS team need to earn the benefit of the doubt with me. Being logical or not will not tell you if Kubiak will succeed or not. We think he will but we just do not know. It's the unknown.

Again though, Kubiak was my guy. I don't want to misconstrue that. But he cannot be crowned just yet. That's all I'm saying. We've seen plenty of offensive geniuses fail.

NewEraX25 wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:11 pmBased on?

Just seems like the D line sucked except for the top 5 DE in the NFL we have. Wilson, Koonce were garbage. I’m not saying it’s a horrible signing, just seems mediocre. Hopefully he’s a stud.

Defensive pass game coordinator seems like he might have been the worst coach on the team. Did we play the pass well this past season?

BoKnows81 wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:22 pm Yea well, people, players, teams, and especially THIS team need to earn the benefit of the doubt with me. Again though, Kubiak was my guy. I don't want to misconstrue that. But he cannot be crowned just yet. That's all I'm saying. We've seen plenty of offensive geniuses fail.

For sure. Offensive and defensive geniuses fail. The genius offensive or defensive playcaller is the coaching equivalent of a workout warrior at the combine - It's nice, because you can "measure" the qualifications, but it still has to translate to the next step.

I think Kubiak has a bit more of a potential edge in that department having come from a coaching family, but only time will tell if it works out.

I also accept that some of our assistant coaching hires won't work out. Mike Mcdonald fired his first OC after one season and then moved on to Kubiak and a SB win. What's nice for us is that 2026 isn't a crucial year (other than for Mendoza's development) so if the defense falls on it's face then you rebound and try again.

LayneStaley wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:24 pm Just seems like the D line sucked except for the top 5 DE in the NFL we have. Wilson, Koonce were garbage. I’m not saying it’s a horrible signing, just seems mediocre. Hopefully he’s a stud.

Kind of hard to judge, Carroll really did not do us any favors and that includes how the staff coached

chucker wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:17 pm I don't believe this was to appease Crosby, I think they more likely just think he has earned an opportunity and will be a good DC.

I've been onboard with this promotion for a couple of years - hope it works out.

I don't believe it was an appeasement hire, just seems like it with Maxx's situation plus his past remarks about coaching hires. Probably more of a coincidence he gets the promotion than anything else

LayneStaley wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:27 pm Defensive pass game coordinator seems like he might have been the worst coach on the team. Did we play the pass well this past season?

Not really. But to be honest with squad we have it's hard to tell what's coaching and what's player talent.

Hellbound wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:35 pm I don't believe it was an appeasement hire, just seems like it with Maxx's situation plus his past remarks about coaching hires. Probably more of a coincidence he gets the promotion than anything else

They have denied requests to interview Leonard for lateral moves over the past couple of years, so it appears that they just think he's really good. Working with Mcdonald and Flores before doesn't hurt his background either.

If we're being honest, we also don't have the talent on defense for a candidate to look at and think this is a team on the precipice of a defensive turnaround that will look good on a CV. It will take a serious coaching effort to make this D look good.

chucker wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:39 pm They have denied requests to interview Leonard for lateral moves over the past couple of years, so it appears that they just think he's really good. Working with Mcdonald and Flores before doesn't hurt his background either.

If we're being honest, we also don't have the talent on defense for a candidate to look at and think this is a team on the precipice of a defensive turnaround that will look good on a CV. It will take a serious coaching effort to make this D look good.

I was just going to post something about this. If I remember correctly, didn't he have a request or requests this year for dc jobs and was denied permission? If that's even allowed?

Hellbound wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:48 pm I was just going to post something about this. If I remember correctly, didn't he have a request or requests this year for dc jobs and was denied permission? If that's even allowed?

Teams requested to interview him for dline coach not DC. The Raiders could not deny permission to interview him for a DC position (up until a few years ago, teams could deny that permission).

Hellbound wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:48 pm I was just going to post something about this. If I remember correctly, didn't he have a request or requests this year for dc jobs and was denied permission? If that's even allowed?

Can’t deny him for DC only lateral moves