No Days Off: Klint Kubiak Is Dragging the Raiders Into a New Era

HENDERSON, Nev. -- The Las Vegas Raiders have been stuck in the mud for years. Four straight losing seasons. A roster in transition. A division that doesn't care about your feelings.

Enter Klint Kubiak -- a first-time head coach who just tasted the mountaintop with the Seattle Seahawks and isn't about to let anyone in Vegas sleepwalk through the climb back.

Kirk Cousins knows the vibe all too well. The 37-year-old quarterback played under Kubiak in Minnesota, and he says the difference between Kubiak as a coordinator and Kubiak as the guy is unmistakable.

"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,'" Cousins said. "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?"

Ball 24/7. No Exceptions.

Kubiak isn't running a popularity contest. Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni put it bluntly: "What you see is what you get. It's no nonsense. 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."

Veteran punter AJ Cole, one of the last links to the Raiders' Oakland days, has seen rebuilds come and go. This one feels different. "I think that the number of people swimming in the same direction is definitely at an all-time high," Cole said.

Accountability Has a Name

Kubiak doesn't care about your contract, your draft stock, or your reputation. Defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV says everyone is held to the same standard — and there's no gray area.

That was on full display last Saturday when Kubiak held Cousins and Maxx Crosby out of practice after a scuffle the day before. Two team leaders. Benched. No debate.

"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."

Even Kubiak's dad, former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak, knows his son doesn't waste words. But when he speaks, it lands. He'll call out anyone for a mistake, and he's not shy about it.

Left tackle DJ Glaze says practices are brutal — by design. "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."

Details. Details. Details.

Running backs coach Omar Young called Kubiak "a machine." Special teams coordinator Joe Decamillis says he's all business, like a lawyer in cleats.

Rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza is already learning that "pretty good" isn't good enough. "When you thought that was a great ball, it's really a 50/50 ball because you didn't throw in the correct timing," Mendoza said. "Being able to learn from that and have, honestly, frustrations with my own play has helped my growth."

Crosby summed it up best: the coaching staff is intentional about everything. No winging it. No making stuff up when the season hits.

"When the season comes, we're not out there making s--- up," Crosby said.

Safety Jeremy Chinn already sees the difference from last year. "It's almost, not embarrassing in a way, but it's like we're so much better now [when] looking at certain things from last year," he said.

Make no mistake: this isn't a country club. It's not supposed to be. Kubiak is building something serious in the desert, and the Raiders are all in.