Raiders TE Coach Luke Steckel Has a Unique Relationship with Coaching

The Las Vegas Raiders hired TE Coach Luke Steckel in February, and a journey into his past reveal a long relationship with coaching.

Jan 7, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (16) celebrates with Las Vegas Raiders tight end Zach Gentry (88) and Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (11) at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

In February, Luke Steckel was brought in by the Las Vegas Raiders to be the tight ends coach, joining the Silver and Black for the first time in his 16-year career as an assistant coach in the NFL.

Steckel comes from football coaching lineage -- his father, Les, was an NFL coach for 25 years, including a brief stint as head coach for the Minnesota Vikings.

"We both have the game of football to thank for a roof over our heads our entire lives. And since he started his career, the two messages he always passed along is, number one, there's no substitute for hard work. There's no cutting corners. There's no easy way," Steckel told reporters at an OTA. "If there was, we'd all take it, and the ones that do usually end up failing. There's no substitute for hard work. And then the thing that he really imparted upon me was the relationships in this business. It’s an intense job. We're very fortunate to do what we do. And there's a lot of people that do things out there in the world that are far more important than what we do. But it's an intense job."

Steckel said that he learned an important aspect of the player-coach relationship from his father. The relationships can span the entire organization, too.

"You go through the highs and the lows of a football season and through those short time periods, you can build some pretty significant relationships with your fellow coaches and with your players," Steckel said. "And that was always something I saw from him having the players over the house for a cookout, calling them on their birthdays, calling to congratulate them when they've had a child or whatever the case may be, and that's important to me. And that's what I told the players when I first got here, the two most important things to me and the only two reasons why I wanted to get into coaching was to win a championship and build meaningful relationships. And I think I think we're starting to do that with the tight ends in our room and I hope they see me as someone they can come to with any issue, football or otherwise. I really put a premium on those relationships because it's why I do this and it's why I love it.”

Steckel will have plenty to build upon in his first year with second-year tight end Michael Mayer and rookie generational talent Brock Bowers.

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