Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak has a big challenge installing a winning culture, but he's tackling it head on.
Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is instilling the kind of culture he wants from his team, and he’s not fooling around. Kubiak is displaying what quarterback Kirk Cousins described as “a greater sense of urgency” as he described the process in a report from Ryan McFadden of ESPN.
"When I'm driving into work in the morning, I'm kind of like, I feel it. I'm like, 'I better be on [time] today,'" said Cousins, who played three of his six seasons for Kubiak with the Minnesota Vikings. "I check my watch like four times to make sure I'm on time or early, because I just feel like he brings that sense of urgency that the great coaches tend to bring, right?"
Kubiak had more leeway last year when he was the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks, mostly because he was only responsible for one side of the ball. Now he’s trying to build a winning culture with the Raiders, which is a Sisyphus-style challenge that’s beyond monumental.
"What you see is what you get. It's no nonsense," said wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni. "It's ball 24/7 here. And if you're not a tough guy mentally and physically, if you don't like to sit through 18 hours of meetings and practice for three hours, this probably isn't the place for you. And that's the culture he's creating."
The other side of the observational coin was provided by punter AJ Cole, who is one of three Raiders who have been with the team since 2019, according to McFadden, with the other two being defensive end Maxx Crosby and left tackle Kolton Miller. That means he’s been through multiple iterations of the bad old days, and he’s seeing a big difference.
"I think that the number of people swimming in the same direction is definitely at an all-time high," Cole said.
Accountability is one of the buzzwords now, along with Kubiak’s attempt to eliminate the word “I” from the team’s verbiage, per the writer. Defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV said it doesn’t matter who the player is or what the contract looks like; everyone is held to the same standard.
"When guys know there's a standard that everyone's being held to, there is no question, there is no gray area," Booker said. "I think that when you have clarity of job description and what's asked, you have a team that can go and make real strides."
What we don’t know yet is if or how this will translate to the field, but we’ll get our first glimpse tonight when the Raiders play their preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
What we do know is that Kubiak has run a hard camp, as offensive tackle DJ Glaze noted.
"It's training camp; that's what it's meant for, but if you're slacking, he's going to let you know," Glaze said. "He wants it to be hard so when you get to game time it's easier for us."
The ultimate comment cum compliment came from running backs coach Omar Young, who noted that the coaching staff is held just as accountable as the players.
"I mean, that dude is like a machine," Young said. "To have a leader like him is really special, and I'm fortunate to be able to be with him because he's helped me grow as a coach."
