When the Oakland Raiders were reported to have interest in bringing in a defensive coordinator from the NCAA ranks, Brian VanGorder jumped to mind as the Notre Dame defensive playcaller fit the bill with a mix of NFL experience and recent collegiate success.

However according to Tom Loy, insider for Irish247.com, VanGorder is presently off of the Raiders shortlist. Oakland Raiders blog Raidersbeat.com reporting on Loy’s sources that told the Fighting Irish insider that it is very unlikely that the defensive coordinator gets an interview with Del Rio.

Just spoke to a trusted source closely connected to the Notre Dame program and he advised that its “very unlikely” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder will interview, or has even been asked to interview, for the open defensive coordinator job with the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

The report on VanGorder being off the Raiders shortlist adds to the continued mystery surrounding the defensive coordinator search in Oakland that has no information regarding the collegiate coach who Del Rio is interested in bringing on at the present moment. VanGorder appeared to be a likely candidate with his defensive coordinator experience in Atlanta with the Falcons and his 2005 stint as the linebackers coach with the Jaguars, but now the guessing game will continue even further as nobody knows where the Raiders are going with this when it comes to the college coach angle.

According to another report the Raiders are supposedly interviewing an NCAA coach on Sunday, so there may be a chance that something leaks once that happens, but working under a cloud of secrecy it is hard to blame fans for trying to guess and assume who may be the mystery candidate. There is a good chance that nobody will know who that name is until it is announced by the team in this case, something that is rare in the modern era of reporting and the Raiders attempt to keep everything under wraps may just be that rare instance in which the NFL insiders can’t get leaked info before the hire is announced.

If that is the case the speculation on who the Raiders defensive coordinator will be could become the big story as the team has already hired the majority of their crucial assistant coaches to fill the staff, no needing to fill perhaps the biggest vacancy things are getting very secret in Oakland. Whatever reason that may be, the secrecy is bringing a ton of attention to the process as both fans and those who cover the team attempt to decipher just which NCAA coach Jack Del Rio is interested in hiring.

You can read Tom Loy’s report by clicking here (Insider post, because 247 have a paywall)