Bruce Irvin has been making the media rounds this week as he celebrates his graduation from West Virginia six years after leaving the school to play in the NFL.
On Saturday afternoon, Irvin appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio and said it was when he arrived in Oakland that he really began to focus on his personal life:
“When I got to Oakland, that’s when I really started to focus on my life after football and focus in on Bruce Irvin the person, just not Bruce Irvin the football player.”
Irvin also talked about his new head coach and removed any doubt that Jon Gruden is somehow lost in another era of football.
“Gruden is all football. When you look around the building, the TV screens is all football, X’s and O’s. He’s an energetic guy. What you see is what you get. He’s not going to sugar coat it. He’s gonna tell you the truth and that’s what you want in your head coach.”
“Guys was kinda worried with him being out of the game for 8-9 years if he would try to come back and try to be old school style, but it’s completely different. He let us run the team.”
“He’s doing a hell of a job and I think guys have bought in and I think guys are ready to go in and bust their tail for him.”
Interesting in Irvin’s remarks is the fact that Gruden is allowing the leaders of the locker room to “run” the team – something that for one reason or another never happened last year.
Also noteworthy is the fact that players on the team apparently wondered if “old school” football would be returning with Gruden.
Wonder where they got that wacky idea?
It sounds like that narrative, in the locker room at least, has been squashed for good.
Sorry, AFC West. No wishbone offense coming to Oakland after all.
twitter: @raidersbeat
I can’t wait !
Man, let’s get it ! I’m bout to put some $ on us to for sure to beat our predicted record an I’ll drop a bill on us (Raiders+4000) winning the Superbowl.
All these people talking about old school football and Gruden either weren’t listening or heard what they wanted to hear . It was obvious to me when he said he wanted to take football back to 98 , he wasn’t talking x’s and o’s . He was talking about the approach to the game in terms of preparation and work ethic . He wasn’t talking about running the same offense he ran in Oakland with Rich Gannon . He was talking about focus on the details that make a football team prepared to play any team , any Sunday . He was talking about having players on his team more interested in winning games and less concerned about statistics and accolades . But there are a lot of writers and analysts ( they know who they are ) that took him literally and hoped he meant what they thought because they want him to fail and you know … maybe he will but it won’t be because he tried to turn Derek Carr into Rich Gannon or resurrect the ghosts of Wheatley and Garner . Gruden’s principles will be rooted in the past which isn’t a bad thing , but his concepts won’t be . He’s had his finger on the pulse of pro football since he left it and I’m sure he is aware of what everyone is is doing and what trends in the NFL work and which one’s don’t . Nobody has to worry about seeing the 1998 Raider offense on the field this year . I’m not going to predict any playoff or Superbowl berths in 2018 . What I am saying is that most of the ” talking heads ” who have already buried Gruden & the Raiders are going to be surprised at what they see on the field . Playoffs or not , what they won’t be seeing is an offense from an era gone by . It’ll be fresh and exciting to watch and on par with today’s modern offenses .
Amen!
I love that everyone (Raider Haters) ate making a big deal out of “taking it back to ’98”
Does any Raiders fan really believe that Gruden has let the game pass him by? I think that Gruden has been working, scheming, and perfecting his playbook over the past decade and now he is ready, willing, and able to execute his vision in a progressive manner.
I doubt he has all the player types he wants but enough to make an impact and execute his vision. He has been waiting for this moment and isn’t going to let it blow up in his face.
I believe he knows exactly what he’s doing.and doesn’t really give a **** about what the sports journalists and Twitter have to say about it.
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such great info being shared freely out there.