Today’s press conference was epic, entertaining and had all the drama of a top rated soap opera. Once again, Al Davis took the stage, and left everyone in the room mesmerized – or scolded.
The Oakland Raiders introduced Hue Jackson as their next head coach, but most of that took a backseat to the other juice topics that were bantered about by the aging owner who had not given a state of the union address in quite some time.
Here are some of the highlights of the press conference, along with my analysis of the happenings:
On who will be the playcaller:
“I’m going to be the primary playcaller, but we’re going to do everything we can to recruit the best staff for the Oakland Raiders,’’ the new head coach Jackson said. “Obviously the name you just mentioned [Al Saunders] is someone who’s out there that we would love to talk to, but there’s several people that we’re going to talk to. We’re going to do everything we can to put the best staff we can here in Oakland.”
ANALYSIS:
If Jackson is going to be at the helm, he wants to make sure he’s at the ship’s wheel as well. It’s probably a good thing, since he has developed a rapport already with Jason Campbell and has an understanding and flow of the players that will line up for him in 2011.
Jackson on development:
“The person that really shaped me in football is Jon Gruden,’’ Jackson said. “We were office mates. We were both young coaches, both young, aspiring coaches, we shared an office together and Jon Gruden, I’ll never forget it, used to put me on the board at nighttime for three months straight, and we would talk football. That’s where my start happened.’’
ANALYSIS:
I’m sure Al Davis loved that. Heck, at least the owner can claim that’s another guy he gave his first shot to.
On JaMarcus Russell:
“We had a big investment in this guy. Basically, he’s a good person but he’s got personal problems, and I decided that it was time that we were not going to fight it anymore,’’ Davis said. “ I wasn’t going to. I wasn’t going to ask the coaching staff to do it, and I had already traded for Jason [Campbell] and had that in the back of my mind. We had [Bruce] Gradkowski, who was coming off an injury, who showed some ability to be a quarterback in this league.”
“That was the thing with JaMarcus. It hurt us a great deal. But you have to go on. You have to overcome those things, and we almost did this year . . . JaMarcus hurt. Any time you lose a first-round draft choice it hurts. But it’s over.’’
ANALYSIS:
That era is over – get over it! The owner paid Russell more than $30 million for three seasons in which he started 25 games and threw 23-interceptions and 18-touchdon passes. Plain and simple; Russell is arguably the biggest draft day bust in the history of the NFL. Oakland likes to add superlatives to their media guide and other releases, there’s another one.
Jackson on his relationship with Tom Cable:
“I’m not going to say there were times I felt I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I think what we did is we did a good job of meshing together what it was here in the past and where we want to go now. I know there were a lot of reports. I’ve known Tom. I just want everyone to know me and Tom worked together. I have a great respect for him as a football coach. What Tom Cable is as a football coach is an exceptional line coach.
“He will go on and do great. I wish nothing but the best for him. All the stuff about the tension between me and him, I didn’t see that. It was reported there was a rift. There was no rift between us. We both wanted to win. Obviously Coach Davis and Tom they gave me a lot of leeway on offense to do what I needed to do. Sometimes we didn’t get it done. We didn’t play like we could play on offense. That was my frustration more than anything.’’
“What Tom Cable is as a football coach is an exceptional line coach.’’
ANALYSIS:
DAYUMN, now that was a backhanded compliment. Obviously, Jackson has had a working relationship with Tom Cable for some time. Neither will likely go to dinner together after this, but for one-season, they did come together, worked through a lot of crap and did an admirable job to get the Raiders to a respectable 8-8 – even though the owner felt that that was an underachievement.
Jackson on looking forward to coaching the team:
“This group of men on the Raider team is excited about the upcoming season,’’ Jackson stated. “I haven’t felt like I needed to re-recruit anybody. I haven’t felt like I needed to call anybody other than I normally do. I call guys to see how they’re doing and see how this off-season is doing so far.
“I think our players are excited about what the future is here. Again, we were 6-0 in the AFC West. We know we need to play better outside the AFC West. We’re going to build a bully here. This is the Raiders. We know exactly where we’re headed and what we want to do. I think our players today are very excited about where they are going.’’
ANALYSIS:
Many of the players will be happy with the ‘new’ coach. His face is familiar, they’ve enjoyed working with him and there is some sense of stability and continuity with Jackson. But others will feel that the constant circus surrounding this team and Cable’s departure after a resurgent season may be the map to their next destination.
Hue Jackson’s monologue:
“Obviously when I came here a year ago a lot of things were said. ‘Why you want to go work for the Raiders?’ One, I’m from California and I love being back home. But two, the opportunity to work for coach Davis. I know a lot of people quote me when I say coach because he is a coach. He was one of the greatest coaches of our time coaching a football team.”
“I want you guys to know, I’ve worked for a lot of owners in this league. I’ve been on four different football teams. I started with Dan Snyder, I worked for from there to Mike Brown, from there to Arthur Blank, from there to Steve Bisciotti. And I’m not saying this because I’m sitting here. I’m being very honest with you, not one of those guys, and they’re all excellent at what they do, but I’ve never had the opportunity to sit and talk football, football, the X’s and O’s and what it takes to win in this league consistently on a consistent basis, and there’s nothing like working for coach Davis.”
“I know a lot of stuff gets said about this and that, I’m telling you I’m here. I’m a walking testimony of coming here in the first year and having an opportunity to make something great. We’re not where we want to be but I’m so excited about the opportunity that the men that are sitting in the back of the room, Mike Waufle and Kevin Ross, guys that I know this past year that we did everything that we could to get this organization where we want it to be, and none of us are satisfied. We all are ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work. So I’m glad, to be here, glad to be the head coach of this football team. I plan on being here for a long time.’’
ANALYSIS:
Step one – wax poetically about the owner. Step two – state your desire to be with the organization. Step three – make sure you pledge your allegiance to the Silver & Black and that they’ll be a contender, again. Jackson, like many before him, said similar things and at this point, those words mean nothing until the team jumps over .500, gets to the playoffs and become a consistent winner.
Part two of the epic briefing and my analysis will posted in part-two…
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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
