The Las Vegas Raiders have made numerous additions to their offensive staff. Now they are adding defensively.
Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders are set to bring former defensive backs coach Joe Woods aboard as a defensive pass game coordinator.
Woods spent the past two seasons in New Orleans as the Saints’ defensive coordinator and before that, he was the Cleveland Browns’ defensive play-caller for three seasons.
The Raiders are looking for experience to keep with their mission of infusing stability into the franchise. Woods has plenty of that in his 21 NFL seasons. He was with Tampa Bay for two seasons as a defensive quality control coach before spending time with the Minnesota Vikings as defensive backs coach from 2006 to 2013.
He spent one season with the Raiders in Oakland before heading to AFC West rival Denver to take charge of their defensive backs for two seasons. He was the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator for San Francisco in 2019, helping the 49ers make a run to Super Bowl LIV, where they would ultimately lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Raiders kept defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, which was huge for the organization’s structural integrity; maintaining continuity was a big priority for minority owner Tom Brady, owner Mark Davis, and new head coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll made it clear during his introduction that the culture will be all about competition. It will incumbent upon the coaching staff, whether it be mainstays like Graham and defensive line coach Rob Leonard, or new additions like Woods, to foster that culture.
“It all starts with competition,” he said. “You’re either competing or you’re not. I’m going to make sure that that’s really clear to these guys from the moment they get here. We’re going to go out and draft a class and there will be a few free agents maybe we’ll be able to attract, and we’ll need to see those guys and we’ll need to see what they’re all about. … If there’s one thing that I want them to understand – and I’ll start the message right now – if you want to be on a great team, you need to be a great teammate. Teaching what that’s all about and instilling that in the makeup of our program is going to be crucial.”
