HENDERSON, Nev. – Omar Young has been named running backs coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, the club announced Thursday.
Young brings 17 years of coaching experience on the to the Raiders, including six seasons at the NFL level with the New England Patriots (2024), Chicago Bears (2022-23), Green Bay Packers (2017-18) and Cleveland Browns (2015), along with nine seasons coaching at the collegiate level.
Last season, Young coached running backs at the University of Iowa, where he was part of a Hawkeye team that won nine games, culminating in a 34-27 triumph over No. 14 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl, finishing the season ranked No. 17 nationally. Under Young, Iowa's offense outrushed its opponents in 10 of 13 games, averaging 176.9 rushing yards per game and posted 200+ rushing yards five times in 2025.
Before his time with Iowa, Young spent the 2024 season as an offensive coaching assistant with the New England Patriots. In his lone season with the Patriots, New England improved from the 26th ranked rushing offense in 2023 (95.7 rush ypg) to the 13th ranked rushing attack in 2024 (115.8 rush ypg).
Prior to his time in New England, Young spent two seasons with the Chicago Bears (2022-23), serving as an assistant quarterbacks and assistant wide receivers coach in 2023 and an offensive quality control coach in 2022. In 2023, Young helped coach WR D.J. Moore to career-bests in receptions (96), receiving yards (1,364) and touchdowns (8). In 2022, Young helped coach an offense that led the league with a franchise-record 3,014 rushing yards and also led the NFL in yards per rush (5.4) and rushing yards per game (177.3).
Young spent three seasons at Eastern Illinois University (2019-21), where he coached running backs the running backs for three seasons, while adding co-special teams coordinator duties in 2020-21. Two of his running backs finished in the top 10 in rushing in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2021, while his special teams unit ranked second in kick return defense, ninth in blocked kicks, 22nd in punt returns and 23rd in kick returns in 2020.
Before returning to the college ranks with EUI, Young spent two seasons (2017-18) as an offensive quality control coach with the Green Bay Packers, working with an offense that rushed for 4.7 yards per attempt over his two seasons with the team, the second-best mark in the league over that span.
Young served as an offensive analyst at the University of South Carolina in 2016 after his first coaching role in the NFL as an offensive intern with the Cleveland Browns in 2015.
Young's first full-time Division I coaching role came at the University of Colorado, where he spent two seasons (2013-14) as the director of quality control. Before his time at Colorado, Young spent two seasons as a special teams graduate assistant at San Jose State (2011-12), where he coached a Ray Guy Award candidate and Lou Groza Award semifinalist.
Young began his coaching career at the Division II and junior college levels, working at De Anza (Calif.) College in 2009 and Minnesota State Moorhead University in 2010. Young helped De Anza College win the 2009 Southern Division Bowl Championship as its wide receivers coach and mentored a second-team JUCO All-American & first-team California All-Region player. Young was then the special teams coordinator and secondary coach at Minnesota State Moorhead in 2010, where he coached the kickoff coverage team that ranked seventh nationally in NCAA Division II.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Young worked as an intern in the personnel departments of the Oakland Raiders and the Arena Football League's San Jose SaberCats during the 2007-08 seasons.
Young earned his bachelor's degree in history from Savannah State University in 2005, while also working as a student assistant and video coordinator for the football program. He then earned a master's degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco in 2008.
A native of Oakland, Calif., Young played defensive back for two years at Willamette University and was an honorable mention All-Northwest Conference honoree in 2001.
