Ken Norton Jr. is out as defensive coordinator in Oakland and apart from the timing of the decision, no one was particularly surprised.
The Raiders defense has been on life support for months (some would say years) and a disappointing effort in Mexico was obviously the final straw.
It’s a little strange that the decision didn’t come before the bye week, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.
The plan in Oakland, many believe, was to let Norton’s contract expire and roll over to John Pagano similarly to the way Todd Downing moved into Bill Musgrave’s job a year ago.
As it turns out, Pagano will have six games in charge to convince head coach Jack Del Rio that he’s the man for the job.
As for the offensive coordinator, Downing is probably on equal footing with Pagano. If the offense doesn’t improve miraculously, there’s no way Del Rio can be comfortable bringing him back.
Del Rio is safe this year, but another bad season in Oakland and he’ll be a pink slip candidate. He’ll want the best possible staff going into next year and he’s in no position to gamble on who he’s working with.
Expect both coordinator positions in Oakland to be desirable jobs, so Del Rio should have options after the season.
Of course, the best option is still for the Raiders to catch lightning in a bottle and slip into the playoffs this year, but as of now that seems like the least likely of all the scenarios.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Mark Davis can’t afford to go to Vegas with a sub .500 team! He Will lose home field advantage as it is. A sub .500 Raiders will be lucky to draw 25,000 each week!
If the team still sucks, maybe he’ll need to do some mega concerts to pay the bills. Of course, he’ll have all that ‘premium’ talent from the casinos to draw from .How about the return of Siegfried and Roy? Only this time we can let the tiger run loose and watch 65,000 people’s run for their lives!
He doesn’t need to sell seats! Unfortunately for Vegas they SOLD THEIR SOULS TO GET THE RAIDERS!! I didn’t renew my 5 season tickets(21 years!)not only because their leaving. But because they raised my ticket prices by almost 70%! I love the RAIDERS. But Davis can kiss my Silver&Black A$$. Poetic justice!!!😀😀
They’ve been the cheapest ticket in football for a long time. They’ve also been the cheapest-paying team when it comes to head coaches for a long time. Coincidence?
Gene – seriously? They won’t lose home field in Vegas. Raider Nation will travel to Vegas – especially from LA – plus add in the new fans from Vegas. I currently live in Tennessee and we have had solid Raider representation the past three seasons the Raiders have played the Titans here – and Nashville is very much an away game for the Raiders.
True, I’m from Memphis and I already started my voyage to getting season tickets, and my to and fro.
Mark Davis is Al’s son. If I were Jack I wouldn’t take next year for gospel. This tail spin continues and he could be packing too. He’s in charge. It’s his responsibility. He made the change from Musgrave to Downing. He’s responsible for the product on the field. Reggie shares in this as well. When leadership is lacking…..replace it.
It seems to me that they put friendships ahead of the best possible outcome, obviously not knowing.
Looks like del Rio did not fire KNJ until now because they are good friends and players love KNJ.
Musgrave was let go because it is clear that Derek Carr wanted more freedom and did not liked Musgrave, and the Raiders have downing because of his relationship with Derek Carr. In other words, Derek Carr pushed Musgrave out and Downing in, I little bit too much power for a 3 years QB, I do not care who he is.
I hope DC learned his lesson.
In conclusion a whole year lost because of the culture. Maybe they should get a different HC that demands accountability and screams a little bit more
Totally agree
Should have kept Musgrave and tossed Norton….2 years ago!
So jdr sends musgrave away from a top ten league offense last year then downing comes and changes the blocking scheme from a power run to this crap we have now. U have to play to the strength of ur blockers. How the hell do u do the same thing with no success and expect a different result!!! The defense gets gassed and repeatedly gets blown up in the second half. Just wish musgrave was still around and our offense was the same or even better than last year. Marshawn and Patterson were very good offensive weapons that are now being wasted by downing because he wanted to put his own stamp on this team. FRKN RIDICULOUS!!!