In sea of change, this assistant remains a constant

Despite new additions, Luke Steckel back as Las Vegas Raiders tight end coach

Even with the adjustments head coach Pete Carroll made to his coaching staff when he arrived, the sea of change didn’t sweep away the tight ends coach.

Luke Steckel’s return to the Las Vegas Raiders shouldn’t come as a surprise, however.

On optics alone, it’d be tomfoolery for a head coach to dismiss a position coach that oversaw a record-setting rookie season from phenomenal 2024 NFL Draft first-round pick Brock Bowers. The Georgia product set the bar for most receptions by a rookie with 112 last season, along with most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in league history (1,194). And at 22 years of age heading into Year 2, sky’s the limit for Bowers.

Steckel’s remaining in place is whether you believe he had involvement in Bowers’ exceptional initial season in the league or not.

Because the fact of the matter is: From the overhaul both Carroll and general manager John Spytek made to the coaching crew and front office staff, respectively, Steckel stuck. And we’re going to see if he can continue to improve and refine Bowers and the rest of the tight end room in Las Vegas.

“First and foremost, I’m just extremely grateful to have a chance to stay on. You know how this league works. There’s so much turnover every year,” Steckel said in a Q&A session for the Raiders official website back in April. “So, to have the opportunity to be here with an organization as great as this one and to work for a coach like Pete with the resume he has, I mean, he is as advertised. He is high energy. He has a positive mindset. He’s all about the culture that’s established in this building, and I can see why it’s something that’s really easy to buy into.”

The 40-year-old assistant coach’s presence in Las Vegas provides not only Bowers, but Michael Mayer and Justin Shorter continuity in the tight ends room. Regime changes are a source of constant turnover and affording the top tight ends at the position group to have the coach who guided them in 2024 is a good path forward.

Now Steckel gets to mix it up with not only a seasoned veteran of a head coach in Carroll, but also offensive coordinator Chip Kelly who brings a wealth of experience in his own right. Kelly’s attack and concepts often puts players in the best position to succeed, thus the time and training Steckel puts with his tight end group is going to be mission critical.

Especially considering Bowers is the de facto No. 1 receiver — albeit as a tight end and not a traditional wide receiver (although he has eerily similar skillset to the Raiders in the wide receiver room).

Yet, despite being on the younger end in terms of age in the coaching world, Steckel has some old-school based roots. Such as what he initially seeks from his tight ends.

“I mean, first things first, I tell our guys they’re going to earn all their opportunities in the pass game by blocking in the run game,” Steckel said last offseason. “So, that might be an old school mentality. That’s kind of my approach, is tight ends are blockers first, and then when we can go make plays in the pass game that’s just icing on the cake.”

Bowers and Mayer, the top two at the position group in Las Vegas, elevating their blocking game makes the Raiders that much better on offense — especially when you take into account the Silver & Black spent the premium sixth overall pick in the 2025 draft on spectacular Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. While Bowers was a prolific pass catcher at Georgia and showcased tremendous ability in Year 1 last season, he is no slouch as a blocker but there’s always areas of opportunity.

While they are the same height, Mayer brings more mass at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds. And the Notre Dame product showed improved blocking since arriving to the Raiders as a second-round pick in the 2023 draft.

The Raiders bolstered the tight end room by inking veteran Ian Thomas (6-foot-4 and 260 pounds). And the 29-year-old Indiana product has cut his teeth as a blocker and special teamer. Justin Shorter (6-foot-5 and 228 pounds) is back as more of a “move” tight end being a former wide receiver-turned-tight end. Youngsters Qadir Ismail (6-foot-6, 232) is another former wide out moving over to tight end while undrafted rookies Carter Runyon (6-foot-4, 243) and Pat Conroy (6-foot-2, 240) round out the room.

Thus the fight for the third tight end spot should be lively and it’ll be interesting to see if Las Vegas carries just three or four during the 2025 season.

Conroy is intriguing as his collegiate career at Old Dominion was of H-back where he lined up at fullback and tight end. The Raiders didn’t deploy a traditional fullback in 2024 — Kelly hasn’t used a true fullback much preferring to deploy a tight end in the backfield, if needed. This was also true of Bowers during his tenure in Georgia and for a few snaps during his rookie year in Las Vegas.

But Thomas has the most experience in the room as an eight-year veteran and his ability to block is likely going to make him a favorite for Steckel.