It was less than two years ago that Mark Davis found himself in an almost identical situation to the one he is in now… riding a popular interim coach, looking for long-term answers within the Raiders organization.
But according to ESPN insider Paul Gutierrez, Davis is looking towards his next coaching hire a little differently…
“[Mark Davis] doesn’t want [interim head coach Antionio Pierce] to necessarily coach guys up,” Guterriez said this week on the Bleav in Raiders podcast.
“He wants him to lead guys. There’s a very fine line there. There’s a very fine difference,” Gutierrez continued. “To me, it was interesting because that’s what kept Rich Bisaccia from getting the job on a full-time basis two years ago because he was more of a leader than a tactician. At the time, that’s what Mark Davis wanted. He wanted the X’s and O’s guy and he was sold on that. Now he’s kind of going back.”
The good news for Pierce is that Davis is going to do everything possible to avoid making the same mistake that he made with Bisaccia.
Davis isn’t going to want to go through another two years of fans telling him to “smarten up.”
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the decision to fire Bisaccia is one that Davis realizes he whiffed on and still regrets…
“I think Mark [Davis] has regretted not hiring Rich [Bisaccia]. I’m not guessing there. I have reason to believe that…,” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast this week. “The problem was that Mark wanted to move on from [Mike] Mayock… and Mayock was so ‘We gotta hire Rich, we gotta hire Rich’ that he was like ‘Nope. Clean everybody out.'”
Some have wondered if Davis would consider circling back to Bisaccia as a candidate to be the Raiders next head coach, but that idea seems like a long shot.
The locker room is completely different now, and there might be too much history between Bisaccia and the Raiders to expect this team to play out as well as it did two years ago.
The locker room will undoubtedly be asking for Pierce to get the job at the end of the year and unless the season goes completely off the tracks between now and January, there’s a good chance that Pierce and interim GM Champ Kelly will be retained.
Just a guess is all that is.
For now, the Raiders have a head coach that the players respect and it feels like they upgraded at the offensive coordinator spot, too. Let’s see where we’re at with everything a few weeks from now and try to avoid the Jim Harbaugh chatter until then.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Just bc the players now have a “players-coach” doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be effective. Can he get the players to give all out effort on a weekly basis? Players tend to not show up sometimes, like the Chicago game. It would be another mistake by Davis not to look at other cutting edge assistants, on other teams. The GM job is as important bc the three that he’s hired haven’t been good at selecting difference making talent for this team. Again, he needs to consider GM candidates outside the organization, as well.
MARK DAVIS DADDY SAID JUST WIN
BABY! JUST WIN!!!! GET TO THE PLAYOFFS AND CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆 ROUND THEN GO PLAY WITH YOURSELF AND NOT THE TEAM….
LET THE RAIDERS RAID MAN!!!
JB.ok
Crosby, Jacobs the two good picks we have from how many picks the RAIDERS have had in the past years….
and Renfrow
Mayock was so right about Bisatia. Too bad he didn’t listen. The bad draft picks were gruden not MAYOCK. GRUDEN HAD 100% control. Too think what might have been…smh
Clearly Davis if he decides to hire different GM n HC in offseason those positions cannot be related to one another. They MUST not be besties or good friends.
Davis may wish to hire the GM first allowing GM to seek and hire HC so that it is done in traditional format with the two positions wotking together under the goal of establishing a true culture.
GM must be delegated with authority of bringing in all the right people and players. The HC must have the unique ability to gather right coaches who can get the most out of the players there having them buy into the belief that one team one dream n then playing for one another in an us against the world mentality.
This right here. This is how successful organizations operate.
Champ and AP deserve a chance to prove themselves. If that doesn’t work out then this is the approach that the Raiders should be taking. This is where “commitment to excellence” actually starts.
Raiders fans need to chill and see how season goes. They beat Danny DeVito…….Come on. If AP can lead the team to the Playoffs then you keep him. Anything sort of 9-7 you move on and get Harbaugh.
So many people stumping for Harbaugh. Not saying he shouldn’t be in the mix but why not try to find the next Zac Taylor, Mike McDaniels, or Nick Siriani?
Mark needs to look for the next level, not necessarily go the tried and true method this time around.
You conveyed that story perfectly. OUTSTANDING!!! Felt like I was reading this back in the Water Cronkite days of actual news.
I believe nothing “Hondo” tells us as he told us McDaniels only had a 5% chance of being fired within a week of him being fired. Of course Mr.Davis regrets not hiring Rich. My dog knows that and he doesn’t have any inside information. Most of us sane people in Raider Nation knew it was a mistake as soon as it was made. Trying to blame Mayock for Mark not hiring Rich is a bunch of B.S. Mark chose the “Patriot Way” instead of the Raider Way. Hondo really needs to find a new career as he kissed McDaniels rear right up until he was fired.
Of course the team is ecstatic now and if passion is what you need, then every team should be targeting Ray Lewis as their next coach.
If Davis is smart, give Peirce & Co a chance to play the season out and evaluate. If the trajectory goes sideways, be ready to pounce on the best candidate out there. To me, Jim Harbaugh is the no-brainer choice. He fits Vegas and Vegas fits him.
Harbaugh is not the guy we want. He’s a jerk and would basically become. McDaniels Light.
Please, not Harbaugh.
As a Buckeye, I can’t agree more to this sentiment
You can’t expect AP to take the raiders to a Playoff. They have a tough schedule ahead of them going into it with a rookie quarterback. I don’t see him going to the playoffs. At least give AP another year a full season.
He’s been the coach for one game, now is the time to evaluate and explore all the possibilities before blindly reaching for a coach. We have plenty of time to decide, f the knee-jerk reaction. Davis should listen to what Brady has to say because if nothing else the dude is a winner through and through.