It can’t be official until the playoff run ends and an appropriate search occurs. Once that happens, the right answer for the Raiders has become obvious.
Rich Bisaccia should be the team’s next head coach.
The 61-year-old has stabilized a franchise rocked by controversy and tragedy, from the Jon Gruden resignation to the Henry Ruggs situation. Bisaccia has, through the adversity, kept a steady hand and nudged the Raiders to the postseason with four straight wins.
Also on his permanent record? A win in a regular-season game that will be permanently remembered by anyone who witnessed it.
As Mike Golic said on Monday’s PFT Live, sometimes the right answer is staring you in the face. Despite a suggestion that the Raiders may pursue a “rock star” via trade with another team, Bisaccia is the obvious choice. And it won’t take draft picks to keep him.
If it doesn’t work in 2022 or 2023, a change can be made then. For now, he has done too much to not get a chance to show when he can do with a whole year to prepare for and execute the job. The locker room surely wants it. The fans will want it, too. No matter what happens in Cincinnati on Saturday.