Raiders Fire DC Paul Guenther, Rod Marinelli Takes Over

The Las Vegas Raiders announced Sunday that they’ve fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther following the team’s disappointing loss to the Colts. 

Veteran coach Rod Marinelli will take over as interim head coach. 

The Raiders have relieved Paul Guenther of his duties as defensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will serve as interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of the 2020 season.

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) December 14, 2020

Raiders HC Jon Gruden was clearly disappointed with the performance of the defense following the game and it appears as though he felt it was finally time to make the change on that side of the ball.

Guenther, 49, began his NFL coaching career back in 2002 as an assistant coach for the Redskins. He left after two years to join the Bengals’ coaching staff and was eventually promoted to defensive coordinator after the team lost Mike Zimmer to the Vikings in 2014.

The Raiders hired Guenther as their defensive coordinator for the 2018 season. 

Entering today’s game, Guenther’s defense was No. 28 in points allowed, No. 22 in yards allowed, No. 19 in rushing yards allowed and No. 24 in passing yards allowed.