When he was named head coach of the Raiders. everyone thought Jon Gruden would show up and immediately start ruffling feathers – specifically among the players.
After a few months, though, it seems Gruden has separated himself a little from the reputation of his former self.
“Guys was kind of 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,” Bruce Irvin said in May. “But it’s completely different. He let us run the team.”
On Wednesday, John Middlekauff talked a little more about the new coaching dynamic in Oakland.
“I kind of worried, when you talk to players who played for him in the early 2000’s, one thing is [Gruden] was just an a–hole,” Middlekauff said on his weekly Periscope. “I’ve actually heard [now] he’s pretty mellow in terms of he’s very good to the players. He’s actually harder on the coaches.”
The other interesting detail that Middlekauff offered is that Gruden has apparently been involved with the defense and special teams – and has proven to be surprisingly knowledgeable in both areas.
That’s a far cry from last year when Jack Del Rio’s expertise was supposed to be as a defensive coach, but his defense never seemed to enjoy a schematic advantage over anyone.
Del Rio also dabbled in the offensive rooms in the second half of last year and the results were even worse.
In Gruden’s case it might actually be true. He really might have forgotten more football than a few of his predecessors ever knew in the first place.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Can’t wait to see this new look Raiders team. Not just looking forward to seeing how many wins they can stack, I’m not expecting a miracle turnaround. It’s a new coach and a new way of doing things. I want to see how the team attitude changes. I want to see them compete. I don’t expect playoffs this year. They need time to gel . I expect they will be in every game and in the playoff hunt right to the end.