Raiders set for fourth straight season with a new head coach-quarterback pairing
Las Vegas opens 2026 with Klint Kubiak and Kirk Cousins, extending a franchise streak of four consecutive years with a fresh head coach and starting quarterback combination.
For the fourth straight year, the Las Vegas Raiders will open a season with a different head coach and starting quarterback than the year before. Adam Schefter flagged the remarkable run of instability at the top of the organization on Thursday.
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter): For the fourth straight year, the Raiders will have a different head coach-quarterback combination.
The 2026 edition pairs first-year head coach Klint Kubiak -- the former Seattle offensive coordinator -- with veteran Kirk Cousins, who was named the starter with rookie Fernando Mendoza waiting behind him. It continues a carousel that has defined the post-Al Davis era: Josh McDaniels with Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O'Connell in 2023, Antonio Pierce with Gardner Minshew in 2024, and Pete Carroll with Geno Smith in 2025.
Each reset has arrived with promise and departed with churn. The franchise has leaned on young building blocks -- tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty among them -- but the constant turnover at the sport's two most important positions has kept Las Vegas from building any momentum. Whether Kubiak and Cousins can finally break the pattern is the central question of the Raiders' 2026 campaign.