Good news :Former Cal DB Coach Gerald Alexander joining Las Vegas Raiders staff
Gerald Alexander, the popular California Golden Bears defensive backs coach responsible for the secondary’s turnaround from 2017 to 2019, has landed a new NFL job.
This time, he’s joining another former Pac-12 assistant in the league.
According to Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network, Alexander is soon to join the Las Vegas Raiders as their safeties coach. He’s set to join Antonio Pierce and the staff he’s building in Sin City. That also means “G.A.” will be joining forces with a former Pac-12 assistant, as both Alexander and Pierce were at Cal and Arizona State, respectively.
Alexander rose to popularity in Strawberry Canyon the moment he was hired on the inaugural Justin Wilcox staff. Alexander immediately emerged as a stout staff member – turning Berkeley into a defensive back destination while improving a once nationally worst unit.
Alexander’s coaching helped get Cal to snatch 21 interceptions in 2018, with 17 from his DB unit. “G.A.” would then go on to produce future NFL Draft picks at Cal – from Ashtyn Davis (New York Jets), Jaylinn Hawkins (Atlanta Falcons), Cam Bynum (Minnesota Vikings) and Elijah Hicks (Chicago Bears).
Cal would eventually lose Alexander to the NFL following the Bears’ 2019 RedBox Bowl win. The Miami Dolphins granted Alexander the opportunity to jump to the league, which was through former head coach Brian Flores.
Alexander was most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh would earn the seventh seed in the AFC playoffs before losing to the Buffalo Bills in the first round.
The former Cal DB coach was one of two reported hires made by Pierce. He also hired former NFL cornerback Ricky Manning as the Raiders’ CB coach. Like Alexander, Manning had a stint in the college ranks with Fresno City College and Fresno State before heading to the league. He was recently with the Jets alongside Davis.
