Patrick Graham spent the last four seasons as the Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator, his 17th year coaching in the NFL.
During his NFL coaching career, Graham has held a variety of defensive roles with the New England Patriots (2009-15), New York Giants (2016-17, 2020-21), Green Bay Packers (2018), Miami Dolphins (2019) and Raiders (2022-25). He has been a defensive coordinator each of the last seven years, including also holding the title of assistant head coach with the Giants from 2020-21.
Teams that Graham has been a part of have qualified for the playoffs eight times, with seven division titles, two conference championships and a win in Super Bowl XLIX with New England.
The Raiders defense ranked in the Top 15 in multiple categories under Graham's guidance over the last four years, with players like linebacker Robert Spillane and defensive end Maxx Crosby flourishing, with Crosby earning four of his five Pro Bowl selections under Graham's guidance (2022-25).
During the 2024 season, the Raiders' defense ranked in the Top 15 in total defense (333.1 yards/game), rush defense (116.9 yards/game) and pass defense (216.2 yards/game). A total of 18 different players recorded at least a half sack, the most in single-season Raiders' history.
Spillane had a career-high158 tackles in 2024, ranked third in the NFL, and set a Raiders single-season record. Crosby was selected to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive year in 2024, with 45 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss, seven and a half sacks and five passes defensed in just 12 games. The defensive line as a whole accounted for 20 passes defensed, which ranked second-most among defensive lines units in the NFL in 2024.
The Raiders' defense finished ninth in the NFL in scoring defense (19.5 points allowed/game) in 2023, a 17-place improvement from the 2022 season. The defense also went from 28th overall in the NFL in 2022, to 15th overall in 2023.
Prior to joining the Raiders, Graham was the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator for the New York Giants from 2020-21. During his time with the Giants the defense saw significant improvement, going from 20th in the NFL in rush defense before he arrived, to 10th in his first season. The pass defense was ranked 16th in the NFL in his first season, after being ranked 28th the year prior to his arrival.
In 2021, the Giants defense was tied for fourth in the NFL in passes defensed (83) and tied for 12th in interceptions. The defense also held teams to 225.8 passing yards per game, which ranked 15th in the NFL.
Graham's arrival in New York signified an improvement for the Giants defense in 2020, ranking ninth in scoring defense (21 points allowed per game), and 12th in total defense (349.3 yards allowed per game) after finishing 27th (377.3 yards a game) after finished 27th in 2019. It was their best defensive finish since 2016 when the Giants ranked 10th in the NFL.
Among those who found immediate success under Graham were inside linebacker Blake Martinez, Pro Bowl cornerback James Bradberry and safety Logan Ryan. Martinez led the Giants, and was ranked third in the NFL, with 151 tackles. Bradberry led the team with three interceptions and was tied for second in the NFL with 18 passes defensed. Ryan made a switch to safety and finished second on the team with 92 tackles.
