Maxx Crosby talked about the doubters this week and said he and his teammates “love hearing that sh–” when people talk about the Raiders being “trash.”
Going back long before Crosby was with the team, the Raiders have always been a lightning rod for criticism, and this week an ESPN report gave Crosby a little more of what he likes.
ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote a column on Thursday ranking the NFL’s coaching staffs, and maybe not surprisingly, he ranked the Raiders as the worst in the NFL.
This was Solak’s explanation for placing the Raiders’ coaching staff at the very bottom…
“I want to be very clear: I like Patrick Graham. Check my Patrick Graham receipts. I’m in on Graham.
But some team has to be 32 out of 32, even if there’s reason for optimism, and that unfortunate title falls on the Raiders. I’m always suspicious of interim-to-head coach promotions. The best success story for an interim promotion in the past 20 years is former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Do you really want to be angling for a Jason Garrett arc?
And that’s before you look at Pierce’s profile. Five years ago, Pierce was the linebackers coach for Arizona State. I don’t mind a fast riser at all, but I do think NFL experience — just spending time on a lot of staffs with a lot of players — gives coaches the long view and steady hand necessary to run a franchise. It’s not that being a long-tenured NFL coach makes you good; it’s that even the naturally good coaches need to learn lessons from experience over time. Pierce has yet to accrue those years at the mast.
The Raiders were plucky under Pierce last year — they went 5-4 after he took over — but the interim often enjoys an unsustainable emotional boost. It’s fun playing for a beloved positional coach or coordinator for a few weeks after the former, often disliked head coach is ousted. But that buff is only temporary, and Pierce is well beyond it now
They tried to give Pierce some handrails on his towering ascent, hiring Marvin Lewis as an assistant head coach. But the inexperience at offensive coordinator worries me — Luke Getsy had two failed years of building around Justin Fields in Chicago before he joined this staff, and the Bears’ offenses of the past few seasons were maddeningly sloppy on the field.
If Pierce can ride the ups-and-downs and grow on the job, I can see him being a good head coach in a few years — a CEO with a strong culture, like Campbell or Tomlin. But that’s a rosy, distant future. My expectations this season are low.“
There is a strong expectation that the Raiders will have one of the better defenses in the league this year, but it will be interesting to see how the offense responds in its first year under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
There was a hope within the organization that Aidan O’Connell would seize the starting job at quarterback, but the preseason played out in a way that made the decision difficult for Pierce and GM Tom Telesco.
Minshew ended up being named the starting quarterback on Sunday and it would appear from the outside that he essentially backed into the job. Nevertheless, Pierce gave Minshew a strong endorsement when he announced the decision, and it will be interesting to see how the offense responds to one of the most unique quarterbacks in the league.
With so many questions around the offensive line, some have suggested Minshew might have gotten the job because of his ability to improvise when plays break down. With Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa waiting for the Raiders in week one, the idea does make a little sense.
x: @raidersbeat
Someone ask this to lookup a coach named John Madden,
and check how much experience he had before he took over
as Head Coach of the Raiders.
I’m sure this author would have ranked Madden at the bottom
in his first season as well.
I agree with what this writer said about Getsy. Quarterbacks just don’t fare well under him. But as for coach Pierce and Graham I think he’s got it backwards. Pierce is a defensive minded coach. The Raider defense improved dramatically as soon as he took over. He deserves the credit along with Coach Lewis. As for Graham, I was opposed to his hiring in the first place because he is a 3-4 coach being asked to run a 4-3. Graham has the mindset of a 3-4 coach in that he prefers lineman who are basically runstoppers. Most of the yardage gained by an offense is through the air. A team that leads the league in sacks will also lead the league in least passing yardage allowed. In the past twenty years the Raiders have had a tendency to bring in players and coaches who don’t fit their defensive scheme. The latest example is Tyree Wilson. Wilson is not quick enough to be a DE and too lean to be a tackle. He looks very much like a 3-4 DE. The responsibility for drafting him must fall on Graham.
Ben solar, huh? Who the hell is Ben solar? Never heard of him. Not nice to trash people.You will be eating crow at the end of the year. Does anyone still watch ESPN? Huh! Go Raiders and all of their great coaches. Ben Solar who is that?
I’ll say this. I’ve been a Raiders fans since John Madden. And over the years they’ve had a ton of coaches with a “ton of experience” and how has that worked out in recent years. I commend Mark Davis for listening to his players and thinking outside the box; but I will admit that Luke Getsy in my opinion was a very underwhelming choice and he watching the bears games last year he seemed very predictable in his play calling. Not sure about the entire league but even for the most loyal Raider fan we would have to admit thar it’s probably the worst in the division for sure. We shall see.
I figured we would do well under AP as long as we had a young offensive guru at O.C. I don’t think Getsy is that guy. There were a couple of dynamic college O.C.s that I was interested in. I hope Getsy does well.
You forgot a couple of things, the NFL feuded with Al’s Raiders now they don’t think that’s a good thing? it means the league and the Raiders are cooperating a little more. That means the Raiders are pleasing the league that means they’re not going to act like the Raiders-
Al Davis was more than a icon/ genius he was one of a few exes who stood up for the players. The label of dysfunctional from his last 9 years of running the Raiders distracted fans from understanding the facts and that was that he was 1 of the most respected and important executives to both the players who were upset with the owners/ NFL about their new CBA.
Al ruined the Raiders?
S. Peyton was hired by Al and somebody told him not to take the job.
Harbaugh was an assistant and true Al didn’t offer him anything publicly and Harbaugh left.
Shaw was an intern for the Raiders and he became a top college coach.
You see these guys came from Al’s worst era
replies to other fans:
Madden had Al and Al got him the players he needed to win. Its’ not proven that GM Telesco is helping A.P. with the moves he/ they’ve made yet.
to Kench: the problem is they refuse to spend on star players/ good veterans for the defense. Instead they sign cheap vets and UDFAs’. They badly need a starting CB and OLB and even the hyped DL could use some depth. When they decide to spend more and bring in more talent for the defense then maybe they might be able to talk about making the playoffs this year.
reply to Sanford: MD listening to his players or staff the decisions? I’ve been hearing how he made this or that decision since Reggie was hired. Why? if he said he didn’t know football why do we think he made/ makes decisions? I don’t think MD makes a lot of decisions- maybe he’s helped/ made some over the years but I think its’ the new regime people who make them.
So, IMO…the Raiders’ new regimes are NFL loyal or cooperate with the NFL game plan- and that’s all teams being as cheap as possible, more business like and keeping salaries lower and that means not going after those expensive star FAs’ and although bringing in some of them, using mostly, good-very good players and coaching ’em up/ discipline; trying to copy the Bellichicks/ ‘Model Franchise’ visions and that means cheap, maybe spend big a little and use average-very good players, maybe in a system, instead of expensive star players and have a no-none sense/ limits with star players if you bring them on your team. Although the Patriots did sign expensive star free agents like A. Brown, Moss, Revis, H. Henry and Talib they got them to play for less and had that no-none sense / tough way with them about their contract demands or any drama them might have.
Well, the new Raiders have cooperated with and copied the NFL’s new vision too:
1. The Raiders(Al’s era) did things their way- now they don’t.
2. They refuse to spend on star players but go after cheaper players and draft players that fit a system- and that means they want to create a winning system and coach up their players but
3. They don’t look for bigger, faster athletes anymore, they go after good players but not the elite athletes. Media/ some fans claimed that’s one reason Al’s last era lost a lot. They also don’t sign or trade for/ sign ex-star/ washed up vets or ex-top draft picks and try to put them in their system and get them to play well.
The Raiders are not mom&pop business its’ a corporation and has lots of new employees and stake holders. They don’t want any Al Davis vision on this team. They hype the team and they want fans to support the ‘brand’ they have the nerve to make the Raiders charge high prices and they haven’t won a playoff game yet. They are so confident in fans’ silly loyalties that they don’t bother to support the team winning or ask star players to sign with them. Just use the ‘Brand’ to get fans to keep spending on them. To spend and don’t worry about who is running the team.