Did Magic Johnson have a significant part in luring Kliff Kingsbury away from the Raiders?
Kliff Kingsbury pulled one of the stranger moves of the NFL offseason. It appeared Kingsbury was set to become the new offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, only for him to abruptly change course and take the same position with the Washington Commanders.
While there has been plenty of speculation over what led to the change, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce inserted one unexpected name into the conversation: Magic Johnson.
In an appearance on “The Pivot Podcast,” Pierce suggested that Johnson, a member of the Commanders’ ownership group, intervened late in the process to bring Kingsbury to Washington.
“Until you put pen to paper, that’s the one thing I learned. No different than the lesson in free agency,” Pierce said. “Teams are recruiting you. Things are going on. Listen, Magic Johnson’s pretty good. I think he can still dish it out a little bit. If I’m losing to Magic, I’m okay with that.”
As it turns out, Pierce is probably telling the truth. One under-the-radar report from prior to the Super Bowl from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network suggested that Johnson had been a key figure in intervening and suggesting to Kingsbury that he might have a landing spot in Washington. Another report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested that the Commanders had been willing to offer Kingsbury an extra year on his contract that the Raiders refused to do.
Whatever the case, Johnson certainly seems to have played a significant role in stealing Kingsbury from the Raiders. Perhaps this is what Ben Johnson meant when he supposedly derided Washington’s ownership as being made up of “basketball guys.”
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Raiders targeting veteran NFL, college assistant for quarterbacks coach job
Head coach Antonio Pierce and the Las Vegas Raiders are currently in the midst of what figures to be a highly important offseason as it pertains to the future direction of the franchise. Pierce was named the team’s full time head coach earlier this offseason after taking over for the team midway through this past season, and the Raiders project to be one of the most interesting teams to keep an eye on throughout the 2023-24 season, which will get underway in September.
Of course, one of the first big decisions to make for any head coach is how they will fill out the rest of their staff, and it appears that Pierce and the Raiders brass have made inroads on at least one aspect of that void moving forward.
“Rich Scangarello considered front runner for #Raiders quarterbacks coaching job, per sources. He was in the building this week and a deal could happen. Scangarello has OC experience at NFL and collegiate levels, lastly with Kentucky,” reported NFL senior reporter Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
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