Clint Kubiak changed his mind.
Three weeks after the Las Vegas Raiders announced their coaching staff would be without a quarterbacks coach – a decision that raised eyebrows considering the decision was coming on April 23 – Kubiak has returned and filled the spot. According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo, the Raiders are hiring longtime NFL assistant Mike Sullivan for the role.
Sullivan, 59, has been a quarterbacks coach in this league four times: twice with the New York Giants, once with the Denver Broncos, and most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2021-23. He also has experience as an offensive coordinator with the Buccaneers and Giants. He was set to join Rutgers as a senior offensive assistant before coming back to Las Vegas. The two have history, as Sullivan and Kubiak were on the same Broncos staff in 2018.
Rent matters for an obvious reason. Fernando Mendoza is almost certainly walking through that door as the No. 1 pick in Pittsburgh on April 23 and the Raiders have a complicated history developing young quarterbacks. Sullivan helped bring along Eli Manning during New York's 2011 Super Bowl run. He has done this before also.
When I wrote about this vacancy in early March, the thinking around the organization was that Kubiak, along with OC Andrew Janko and assistant head coach Mike McCoy, had enough experienced offensive minds in the building to cover the position. This is still true. But adding Sullivan doesn't hurt. It just means Mendoza has another voice – a dedicated one – when the real work begins.
The question mark on the staff in 2026 was always Rob Leonard on defense, not the QB room. Sullivan's appointment does not change that. But for a franchise that has often botched quarterback development, getting this piece right matters. Kubiak called. Now we'll see what Sullivan does with it.
