MODS PLEASE LOCK

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

Greg Olson Byke

 

[HNL HI]

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

 

[The_Isomotion31]

^^^ " Don't ever throw the venus on a Spider 3 Y Banana."

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

So... I don't like this update from Vic about how Carr would deal with having Gruden critique him. I will bold that part for convenience's sake:

The Gruden Countdown continues, with questions about Carr and a familiar offensive coordinator

By Vic Tafur 2 hours ago

It’s been a weird week, hasn’t it? Everyone looking for old video of Jon Gruden, remembering his animated intensity and humorous sayings on the sideline as the coach of the Raiders and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like he died or something.

But Gruden is not dead. He is coming back to life as Raiders coach again, finally in a few days now, after seemingly endless hours of anticipation and mummified silence from the organization itself.

The Raiders' offices in Alameda are now full of employees who have no idea what their job status will be next week. Vague reassurances are not very comforting, and that starts one notch below the top, with general manager Reggie McKenzie.

All of last year’s assistant coaches have already left to look for other jobs, save one.

That would be Bobby Johnson, the tight ends coach who interviewed Wednesday for the head coaching job, Gruden's job.

That was to satisfy the league’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching vacancies. The rule is a sham (more on that later), but it is a box that had to be checked before owner Mark Davis could officially give Gruden the keys to the office and the PIN to his Las Vegas bank account.

Gruden has one game left as broadcaster for ESPN, Saturday’s playoff game in Kansas City, and his re-introductory news conference is expected to be Tuesday.

As questions start to form about how quarterback Derek Carr will respond to Gruden’s at-times blunt criticism, SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Alex Marvez reported Gruden is expected to hire Greg Olson as offensive coordinator. Olson was the Raiders offensive coordinator in Carr’s rookie season in 2014.

Can you say Good Cop, Bad Cop?

OK, let’s look at this stuff in more detail — what, you have more Gruden video to watch? — in order of what I find most interesting:

Can Carr handle Gruden?
There have been numerous national reports this week speculating that Carr will have a hard time dealing with Gruden’s often-pointed criticism. Gruden has been known to yell or poke fun at this players, and Carr may not be able to handle that after four years of coddling and one $125 million payday.

Now, usually with all the stuff that gets clicks on the internet, I have to judge if there is anything to it (most often, there isn't), and then I play the game of figuring out where it came from.

In this case, yeah, I think it’s a valid concern. (And I think it came from all those coaches who had to pack boxes in their offices this week. They blame Carr and think he might be a little sensitive.)

Carr has largely been handled with kid gloves his first four seasons here. Last year, he helped get his quarterbacks coach, Todd Downing, promoted to offensive coordinator and while they were so close they “finished each other’s sentences,” Carr couldn’t finish Downing’s plays. He regressed for the first time in his career.

Carr should realize this and welcome some tough love.

Former Raider Rich Gannon may or not be coming onboard as the new quarterbacks coach — he is not saying. But on his weekly 95.7 FM appearance Thursday, Gannon spoke to how good Gruden would be for Carr.

“I think he should be thrilled that he’s gonna get an opportunity to work with what I think is the best person in the business when it comes to calling plays and preparing a quarterback to play that position,” Gannon said. “I’m really excited for him and I hope he’ll take advantage of the opportunity and embrace it. That’s the thing, you can be a great coach but if you have a player that doesn’t buy in — and I’m not suggesting that Derek won’t — I’m just saying it’s really important.

“Derek is gonna have to work even harder because Jon’s got an unbelievable work ethic and a passion and energy that are second to none. I always felt the pressure when I was there to — I don’t wanna say match the hours that he put in — but certainly to match the intensity, the passion and the preparation.”

It almost sounds like Gannon is relishing the chance to work with Gruden and fix Carr’s mechanics that were broken coming off leg and back injuries.

“We’re gonna find out how tough this guy is and how hard he’s willing to work to really take his game to the next level, but more importantly to take the Raiders to the next level,” Gannon said.

Meanwhile, Carr’s brother, Darren, didn’t appreciate Pro Football Talk’s report that Carr may not be able to handle Gruden’s tough love.

“You don’t know our family very well do you?” Darren Carr tweeted. “Just next time title it, 'We think Christians are soft and can’t take yelling … ' Then Google 'The Crucifixion' and tell me if there was anything soft about that man because that’s the God he/we serve.”

The Good Cop
Which brings us to Olson.

He is currently preparing Jared Goff for his first playoff game as the quarterbacks coach of the Rams. He has a history of working well with young guys, dating back to Drew Brees, and enjoyed his year working with Carr. (The receivers and offensive line on that 2014 Raiders team? Not so much.)

The Raiders ranked last in the league in offense in Olson’s year here, but he would have a different role this time around as Gruden plans to call the plays. Olson would not only bring some of the cool looks from Sean McVay’s Rams playbook, he would help Carr get his confidence, footwork and pocket presence back.

The Davis Rule
Oh, sorry, I meant the Rooney Rule. Though it probably should be called the Al Davis Rule, given the late Raiders owner's unprecedented record of hiring minority and women candidates for coaching and front-office jobs.

There was a lot of hand-wringing this slow news week about the Raiders. How they were not abiding by the Rooney Rule since they knew they were going to hire Gruden when they fired Jack Del Rio last Sunday. Maybe they should be fined …

Well, the Raiders were never going to not follow the rule.

Regardless of how ridiculous the Rooney Rule is.

You can’t dictate how people are going to think. Especially in this case, with how a bunch of largely old white guys are going to prioritize their list of different candidates to interview.

But you can’t get rid of the rule. You just have have to hope that convenient candidates like Bobby Johnson — the Raiders didn’t even have to pony up for a cab, let alone an airline ticket — get something out of going through the interview process and putting it on their resume.

I also hope that Davis asked Johnson what the heck happened to Jared Cook down the stretch.

OK, back to your Gruden videos.

 

[njavier03]

Splashy? Wtf...?

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Splashy? Wtf...?

I'll wait for someone other than Corkran to confirm it.

It'll probably be broadcast from Vegas

 

[raider5]

Adam Schefter just confirmed it too.

 

[njavier03]

I think Carr might be a bit sensitive too, but that has nothing to do with religion. He needs to toughen up a bit. He's the most important player on the roster and the highest paid. We don't need our QB to be a diva. Leave that for the WRs.

 

[HNL HI]

the whole Carr family sensitive, all his brothers do is respond to negative things about their brother

 

[The_Isomotion31]

He's definitely sensitive. Although most QBs are? See Eli, Rivers, Brady..etc.Hell even Peyton called out his "drunk, idiot kicker"

It's just when things are bad, they're sensitive. Things are good, they're fierce competitors.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

The problem to me isn't that Derek is sensitive. It's that he seemingly needs to be liked by his teammates to feel good.

How can you be a leader and have that concern? Leaders lead, and that often comes at the cost of being liked or being a friend. He has to come away from this season understanding that whatever demands he makes of himself he must expect from his teammates as well. Leading by example is not enough for everyone; understand who requires more and make sure you are vocal about your expectations. Derek got his bag, he needs to now use the influence that comes with it to make his team better.

 

[Deleted member 185039]

Olson is a great QB coach.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Omfg.

 

[HNL HI]

wow

 

[Deleted member 185039]

Tried to tell you.
Reggie will stay, but I'm not sure how many people will be making decisions on top of his decisions. He is pretty good with contracts and finding guys before they peak. He just needs coaches / consistency to build out their talent. I don't know where his brother is going to be in all of this or where scouting goes. It will be interesting to see the shakeup and who stays and who goes.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Starting PSL prices for the Vegas stadium are going to be $100K.

 

[The_Isomotion31]

wonder how much of it is guaranteed though.

 

[HNL HI]

Starting PSL prices for the Vegas stadium are going to be $100K.

I'm still wondering how I get my $100 deposit back

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

I'm still wondering how I get my $100 deposit back

**** same here

 

[sohi 23]

Lmfaooo this is gunna end so badly

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

We're done, guys. Gruden is the Raiders going forward. What I wrote just now on Twitter:



I also think Reggie is planning to exit.

 

[Deleted member 185039]

This feels like a big house clean