Mark Davis Had A Plan If Jon Gruden Turned Down The Raiders

One of the hypothetical scenarios that has been brought up since Jon Gruden was hired is the question of what owner Mark Davis would have done if Gruden had bailed on his verbal agreement to coach the Raiders.

Would he have fired Jack Del Rio if Gruden wasn’t available?

Davis answered that question in a Sports Illustrated story on Monday.

“I don’t see how I could have. To spend $20 million, and on top of that hire Tee Martin? No. What I would’ve done is probably brought in a president—somebody with X’s and O’s ability—to work with Jack, and I would’ve gotten some more competent coordinators.”

Essentially, it was either going to be Del Rio or Gruden on the Raiders sideline in 2018 and if Del Rio was retained, it sounds like offensive coordinator Todd Downing and possibly even defensive coordinator John Pagano would not have been brought back.

It’s also worth noting that Davis apparently didn’t consider the Raiders to have “competent” coordinators this season – a drum that many Raider fans were beating loudly for most of the season.

For what it’s worth, if Del Rio had hung around another year, a source said he was strongly considering bringing Downing back for another year.

An idea that it sounds like Davis would have been immediately prepared to squash.

twitter: @raidersbeat

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6 thoughts on “Mark Davis Had A Plan If Jon Gruden Turned Down The Raiders

  1. Makes you wonder what last season COULD have been if KNJ had never been hired in the first place. Imagine if a truly competent DC had been running the defense…….

    1. I told other Raiders , fans that even in 2015 that KNJ should be gone, the OF carried the Raiders in 2016, but even with a 12/6 record in 2016 they gave to many EASY TDs.

    2. They should have had a much more experienced QB coach plus a Senior offensive assistant working with Downing in the first place. I don’t think Marc really cared about 2017 from the get go. He’s wanted Gruden for a while now.

  2. del rio fired the wrong coordinator at the start of the season, norton should have been out and kept musgrave.. i love all the risks they took last year, and this year without musgrave the play calling was too predictable. del rio did a great job last year but he is not consistent and does not hold his players accountable, esp on the defensive side. we had talent and yet our d was pitiful and really tough to watch. i don’t care what anyone else, something was off ever since that redskins game, we were not the same team after that game.

  3. Jack Del Rio got caught in the crossfire. Number #24 was “special”…but to me seems disruptive. Certain players developed attitude problems perhaps. Downing was a mistake , KNJ wasn’t fired soon enough , they let Carr get broken, twice. The ball bounced the wrong way in 2017! Bad luck for Jack that Jon Gruden wanted back in. Bad luck for Jack that we draft injured/project players instead of starters. I agree with Alex, after the Washington game it just fell apart. Good luck to Jack , hope he enjoys a paid vacation.

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