REPORT: Las Vegas Raiders Set to Hire Gators Defensive Coach
The Las Vegas Raiders are reportedly set to hire Florida Gators assistant defensive backs coach Beyah Rasool. According to CBS Sports/247 Sports Matt Zenitz, Rasool will assume the role of defensive assistant.
Before arriving in Gainesville, Rasool was defensive backs coach at Bowling Green and helped the team rank 12th nationally in pass defense in 2023.
Before that, he spent two seasons (2021 to 2022) at Arizona as a senior defensive analyst before spending two years (2019 to 2020) at Missouri as a graduate assistant. In 2019 he spent time with the safeties and moved to the defensive line in 2020.
From 2014-2016 Rasool was the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Eastern Arizona College. During his three seasons, the defense ranked top-10 nationally and won the 2016 Salt Lake City Bowl.
Rasool will get his chance to bring his touch to the NFL and clean up a subpar Raiders defense.
The Raiders allowed 331.3 total yards per game and 25.5 points per game. While that total yards stat was 19th in the NFL, the Raiders allowed the fifth-most points per game. The latter stat also reflects the defense taking a step back in 2024. They allowed 19.5 points per game in 2023.
The Gators’ defense took major strides in the final four games of the season seeing go from 4-5 on the year to an 8-5 finish.
They forced 12 turnovers, including four against two ranked opponents (LSU and Ole Miss). They also racked up 20 sacks in that stretch.
According to the Gators website, the Florida defensive unit finished the season ranked ninth in the nation in red zone defense (.725), 11th in sacks per game (3.0), 11th in fumbles recovered (11) and 13th in turnovers gained (25). The Gators finished the year with at least one takeaway in 10 straight games and 12 times in 13 games.
NFL teams have scouting out the Gators’ defensive staff as of late. Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman interviewed with the Chicago Bears but ultimately signed an extension with the Gators
