Patrick Graham’s defenses have performed admirably since he was hired by Josh Mcdaniels to be the Raiders’ defensive coordinator in 2022, and he has found success in recent years calling games from the press box.
But with Pete Carroll taking over the big chair in Las Vegas, Graham will be calling plays from the field, and it was a change that came as little bit of a surprise.
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked about the move this week and, like others, he seemed a little skeptical of the decision and may have hinted to the real reason Carroll made the adjustment.
“I’m interested to see what Patrick Graham looks like coaching from the field as opposed to the booth. I liked him in the booth, getting that All-22 view,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast. “But Coach Carroll said he liked him on the field. He likes to be able to communicate with him. He likes him to be able to look into the players eyes and talk to them and get the energy of the game as well. So we’ll see how that plays out.”
“But what I feel like is almost a guarantee is that the defense that we’ve seen from Patrick Graham the past few years is not going to look the exact same this year under Pete Carroll,” Myers continued. “His influence will definitely be seen in a major way.”
It has been assumed for a while that the defensive scheme is going to change under Carroll, despite the fact that Graham was re-signed after the season and reading between the lines a little with Myers’ comments, it sounds like Carroll wants to make sure he has input with what the Raiders are doing on defense.
How much input remains to be seen.
But last month, Myers said he thinks the defense might actually look “a lot different” than what we’ve seen from Graham over the last three years.
“I feel like that there’s a lot of chess pieces now for Patrick Graham to play with. A lot of people believe that this is going to be the same defense that we’ve seen the last couple of years. I don’t believe that,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast towards the end of training camp.
“I believe that this defense is going to look a lot different than what we’ve seen. There’s a lot of different moving parts that they have.”
x: @raidersbeat
Pete being able to see what Graham can’t in making across the board adjustments is what’s going to make the D even better. Pete will be coaching Graham as much as the players. And that’s a good thing.
I’m sure Pete getting involved will help the scheme, not sure taking Graham out of his element will help. As far as whose defense will be on the field ?? It’ll be Grahams with some suggestions from Carrol’s point of view.
Admirably? Rose colored glasses much? I’m looking at P.Graham as the 1st domino to be blamed for the upcoming failed season. The only reason P.Graham is back is because he does have honor otherwise he’d be in Jacksonville.
Too funny. Yeah, the only reason he’s back is because of honor. Talk about Rose colored glasses. In your case, I think it’s more like Ray Charles glasses.
Not once has the Defense finished in the top 20 over the last 19 years. The D the past years under Graham have been horrendous. He has potential, but there are a mountain of unfulfilled dreams in the world called potential.
I hope his experience with Carroll gives us all what we need.
His inability to counter his oppositions coaching changes in game are his Achilles heel. While he has been challenged deeply by available personnel, he also will shelve better options. Like sticking with players they get burned over and over and over repeatedly in games. You think offensive coordinator and quarterback isn’t gonna keep going to your weakness if you leave it on the field? He’s brain dead in that respect.