Klint Kubiak handling first OTAs as Raiders head coach with ‘direct’ and ‘straightforward’ approach

Kubiak’s “all ball” demeanor while addressing the media doesn’t veer off from what his players see every day. While Ashton Jeanty claims the head coach still finds ways to crack jokes and be personable while demanding the best out of his players, Kubiak “definitely is about his business while we’re in the building.”

It may still be early in OTAs, but that mentality has quickly set the tone for the rest of the locker room.

“He’s direct. There’s no fluff,” Kolton Miller said of Kubiak. “Everything’s straightforward, real with him, and we all appreciate that.”

“It’s great because you already know coming into it, like it doesn’t matter how the thing goes, whatever goes, you [can] be you,” Eric Stokes added. “And that’s what you always want from a coach. I don’t need a roller coaster, I don’t need any of that. You just be you, everything else going to happen, but as long as you stay calm, as long as you stay neutral, everything else good.”

Kubiak’s no-nonsense approach involved removing the Raiders shield logo from practice helmets, with the players being tasked with earning the shield as a team. This is the first time since the 2010 season that a Raiders head coach has made his players work for their shield.

“[I]f we can uphold the standard that we put in front of these players in our team meeting,” Kubiak said, “if our conditioning level is where it needs to be, if we can practice the right way, if we can handle our business outside of the building and we can represent the shield the right way, then we’ll put it back on.”

The standard couldn’t be more clear.