David Raih is the Commanders' new tight ends coach, a job that now brings him almost full-circle on the offensive side of the ball. Raih was a college QB at Iowa and has served as a QB/outside receivers coach, a wide receivers coach, assistant OL coach, "offensive perimeter" coach, and, for one year at Vanderbilt, an offensive coordinator.
This one is his third position under Kliff Kingsbury, and during last week's Commanders assistants media availability, Raih (pronounced RYE) revealed he has known his direct boss, Kliff Kingsbury, since he gave him the first job on that above list at Texas Tech in 2013.
"I first met Kliff in 2013; I was just finishing my Graduate Assistantship at Iowa, and I was really looking for somebody with a dynamic offense, so I flew down to Texas Tech," Raih said. "It was like graduation night to give my GA-ship and instead of graduation, I took a flight down to Lubbock, Texas. I went in at 4:30 in the morning and the only guy there was Kliff.
He was not expecting me, but long and the short of it, we had a quick year there. I met him the first day and I was there for 11 months; we had Baker (Mayfield) and Davis Webb, and then Patrick (Mahomes) was coming in."
That marriage lasted just one year because Raih got 'what I thought was a prank phone call' from Mike McCarthy that took him to Green Bay for five years, before Kingsbury, now an NFL head coach, brought him to Arizona as his wide receivers coach.
Two years there led to a year as Vandy's OC, and after spending last year as an analyst in Tampa Bay (with Mayfield once again), Raih is back with Kingsbury in DC.
"It's amazing. It's a small business and it's obviously intense, and it's the people you're around. I love working with Kliff," Raih said. "He's a remarkable example of leadership, discipline, and obviously offense. So, the combination of working for Adam and DQ and Kliff is a dream come true, man."
And so far, this group has gelled very quickly, it seems.
"This is awesome. It's special, because the first place my mind goes is to the leadership. Leadership sets the tone, and Adam and DQ have been phenomenal," Raih said. "The first week together, I feel like I know everybody in the building, and that says a lot about the approach they're taking."
Raih is a QB by trade, but with so much experience around the offense, he's leaving the development of whatever young QB the Commanders select to Kingsbury, Tavita Pritchard, and David Blough – but as TE coach, he knows how important his guys will be to that QB.
"The exciting thing about the tight end position is you're really taking the fundamental training of the offensive line and the detailed route training and footwork of the perimeter, and you're putting them together," Raih said. "The evolution of this system, like you've seen it, if you followed Kliff, it's been pretty dynamic to watch from its origin to what it's become as an NFL offense, and we're able to do those things."
Raih has never worked with any of Washington's current tight ends, but so far so good with meting them, and 'the reputation of the group is phenomenal' – as is their size.
"You love having guys with some length, of course it helps," Rai said. "They gotta do a lot of stuff, especially at the line of scrimmage, and I've had great interactions with the guys so far."
