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Jackson Powers-Johnson with Brock Bowers.
Though Pete Carroll was very youthful for a 74-year-old, he was still the oldest head coach in NFL history last year. That approach clearly didn’t work for the Las Vegas Raiders, as they won three games and earned the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The team decided to take a much different approach this offseason. The Raiders hired 39-year-old former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as head coach. They now have a young head coach whom they can build the franchise around.
Antonio Pierce was young, but didn’t have enough experience. Carroll had the experience, but was too long in the tooth. Kubiak has coached in the NFL for over a decade but is still young.
Offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson has to be happy to get a new coaching staff in. He clearly wasn’t gelling with the Raiders’ staff last season. He’ll now get a fresh start to prove that he deserves a starting spot. He likes what he sees in Kubiak so far, and the coach reminds him of one of the top coaches in college football.
“Young and cool,” Powers-Johnson said of Kubiak, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “He reminds me of (Oregon coach) Dan Lanning a little bit.”
Jack Bech Weighs in on Kubiak
2025 second-round pick Jack Bech also has to feel somewhat good about the coaching change. Despite being a high draft pick, he only saw 29 targets last season.
The Raiders didn’t put him on the field enough to know for sure if he can be an impact player. With an offensive-minded head coach coming in, he could see his role increase. He’s personally really excited to work with Kubiak and the coaching staff.
“Oh, he’s awesome,” Bech said of Kubiak. “He’s big into his faith. I’m obviously the same way. So for him just to be able to bring that into our program and just live by that, we’re just so excited. We can’t wait.
“Coach Kubiak and (offensive coordinator Andrew) Janocko and all of them, they’re all offensive masterminds, so I couldn’t be more excited to learn from them and to really dive into the plan they have for us.”
Powers-Johnson Remaining Confident
Last season had to be a blow to the confidence of Powers-Johnson. He was an award-winning offensive lineman in college and an early second-round pick. He’s used to success and works really hard.
When Carroll came in, they stripped him of his starting center job and then made him compete to start in one of the guard spots. It was one of the more bizarre developments of the offseason. The Raiders signed Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, so Powers-Johnson is going to have to make a name for himself at guard.
Luckily, he’s still confident and is also happy that he can focus on one position.
“I’m confident in my future,” Powers-Johnson said. “I think more the biggest thing was I wanted continuity. I had these past two years have been flip-flop, flip-flop and now this gives me an opportunity to get one thing and get really good at it.”