Former Raiders HC Jack Del Rio Says He Had “Good Reason” to Fire OC Bill Musgrave in 2017

Former Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio has been active in sharing his opinions lately. Technically that’s his job, but he’s been weighing in on the Raiders more than usual of late. It started this week with comments about Derek Carr not liking cold weather and took another turn on Wednesday.

Asked on Twitter why he fired former offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who was the architect of the Raiders sixth-ranked offense in 2016, Del Rio responded that “he had a good reason.”

As it turned out, firing Musgrave was arguably the biggest mistake of Del Rio’s coaching career. The Raiders offense was a disaster in 2017 and Del Rio was fired moments after the final regular season game of the year. Reports have indicated that Del Rio completely lost the team by the time they closed out the season in San Diego.

A few theories exist as to why Del Rio decided to promote the unproven Todd Downing to offensive coordinator in 2017, but the popular opinion is that Del Rio simply wanted Musgrave out of the building. Del Rio obviously didn’t divulge on Twitter what the “good reason” happened to be, but inquiring minds would still like to know – and it sure sounds like JDR still doesn’t regret the decision.

Safe to say, though, the rest of us still do.

For what it’s worth, Del Rio was quick to point at Carr’s struggles in the cold weather, but Del Rio hasn’t been much better. As a head coach, he has a 5-13 career record in games that started with the temperature reading 40 degrees or below.

twitter: @raidersbeat

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9 thoughts on “Former Raiders HC Jack Del Rio Says He Had “Good Reason” to Fire OC Bill Musgrave in 2017

  1. Maybe Del Rio felt threatened by Musgrave I don’t know or maybe Musgrave was getting to much credit and Del Rio wanted the credit.. stupid things like that exists in all of life I just know it’s never been the same after that.. Carr was truly unstoppable it was great.. then he got hurt we all thought Mack would pick it up a notch on D but wow he totally disappeared to with the rest of the team

  2. Great article..was right on point. That is why D. Carr said it was a team game that includes the coach who has a poor record in the cold. D.Carr is a class act.

  3. There’s too many what ifs. What if Derek Carr’s leg wasn’t broken? What if coach Del Rio kept Bill Musgrave? 2016 was very exciting until the wheels fell off. I Miss some elements of 2016 that are missing in 2019. Long passes to Crabtree and Cooper. Gambling Jack. Possibility to go far into the playoffs. However, despite the previous loss to the Jets I am encouraged by GM Mayock and coach Gruden. And whether QB Carr is still around? Only the draft/trade will tell. With the incoming draft picks (please keep losing Chicago) in next year’s draft I am looking forward to 2016 in 2020.

  4. He must be kidding. Firing Musgrave was the biggest mistake he ever made. If something is not broken you don’t fix it. Norton should’ve been fired first. Why they gave him a longer contract than Musgrave I’ll never understand.

  5. 2016 was Derek Carr best year when he got hurt Jack del Rio should have got a veteran QB out of the free agency better yet Carr should have been out of the game in 4th quarter 7 mins Left and right now Jon Gruden should sign Eric Berry and Dez Bryant ASAP

  6. The fact is Musgrave’s contract expired at the end of the 2016 season and wasn’t renewed for the 2017 season. Fired is when you have a contract and are let go before it ends. That didn’t happen to Musgrave but it did to Del Rio…

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