Scouting the Raiders Recent Front Office Changes

 Posted by at 9:51 PM  No Responses »
May 022012
 

When Reggie McKenzie was hired he spoke of the fact that he planned to make changes within the Raiders front office. He brought up his vision of having everyone within the organization from front office employees to players on the field having one goal in mind and that is winning a championship. He went on to say that while not all changes would be immediate he would evaluate every position and make changes where and when he saw fit. We now know that at the very least you know Reggie is a man of his word.

Shortly after Reggie was hired the first front office change came in the form of John Herrera “taking a break” from his job. What that means is only really known by people inside the Raiders organization, but don’t be surprised if he was encouraged to take that break. Lets just say it didn’t take most people long to get over that move and Reggie wasted no time in filling the void. On March 24th it was announced that Zak Gilbert was hired as director of media relations and Mike Taylor was promoted to director of public affairs. Zak worked under McKenzie in Green Bay as the chief assistant of public relations from 2001-2007. Reggie was later asked specifically about the scouting department and he said he would wait until after the draft to address that situation so that it would not disrupt this years scouting. It was a very smart move on the part of McKenzie because timing is everything when it comes to important roles such as scouting.

Again holding true to his word and just days after the draft Reggie has fired current college scouting director Jon Kingdon. There are also reports that longtime scout Bruce Kebric will not be retained either. Kingdon and Kebric have both been working in the scouting department for the Raiders for 30+ years. Anytime long tenured employees are let go it is met with a certain amount of skepticism and rightfully so, but it seems as though Reggie has been right on point with front office hires and this is no different.

It was announced today that Shaun Herock was hired to take over as director of college scouting. Shaun is the son of former player and personnel executive of the Raiders Ken Herock. Ken Herock along with Ron Wolf and John Madden was said to be an adviser for Mark Davis before hiring Reggie McKenzie as the new general manager of the Oakland Raiders. Shaun has spent the last 19 years with the Green Bay Packers and was a former colleague of McKenzie. He was most recently serving as the assistant director of college scouting with Green Bay. It was also announced that Raleigh McKenzie (twin brother of Reggie) will also join the teams scouting department. Raleigh played in the NFL for 15 years, winning two Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins and was named to the All-NFL team in 1991.

There were rumors swirling a few days ago that Joey Clinkscale was a candidate for the job given to Shaun Herock. Clinkscale, a childhood friend and college teammate of Reggie McKenzie, is someone to keep an eye on in the near future. He could still emerge as a candidate for a pro personnel job with the Raiders if he does end up leaving his current position as director of college scouting with the Jets.

While it may seem at times that Reggie McKenzie is making some knee jerk moves in the front office, it is very conceivable that he has had a very distinct and prepared plan from the beginning and is strategically making changes at the right time. It’s not at all uncommon for a general manager to surround himself with people he is familiar with, but keep in mind that each front office hire to this point has had a distinct football background and experience. Again I stress that only time will tell the story on how successful this new regime will be, but it sure seems like things are “making sense” in Oakland these days and the organization from top to bottom seems to be filling out well.

 

What Really Lead To Hue Jackson’s Firing?

 Posted by at 4:54 PM  5 Responses »
Jan 112012
 

Allow me for a moment to walk the Raider Nation through a timeline of Hue Jackson’s tenure with the Raiders.

2010

Al Davis hires Hue Jackson to revamp an offense that hadn’t been good in many years. With the aide of competent quarterback play and a healthy Darren McFadden, Jackson is wildly successful in his first year.

2011

Tom Cable is fired for an 8-8 season and Hue Jackson is promoted to Head Coach.

Situation

He is working with a roster constructed by Al Davis and defensive coaches hired by Al Davis.

October 8, 2011

Al Davis dies and Hue Jackson is forced to take a more active role in managing player personnel because-although unqualified-he is the most qualified person in the building. Mark Davis begins to gather his advisory team or John Madden, Ron Wolf and Ken Herock.

Problem 1

Hue Jackson loses his starting quarterback to injury for the season. Jackson knows with the passing of Al Davis that a new front office would be coming in and in all likelihood he would be fired if he didn’t make the playoffs and maybe he would even need to win a playoff game to keep his job.

Solution 1

Trade for Carson Palmer. Hue Jackson was looking out for himself, knowing that he had little chance of making a playoff run with Kyle Boller and knowing a losing record would mean he would be fired. Hue Jackson pressures Mark Davis to make a lopsided trade for the only decent quarterback available. Hue’s ego and power begin to grow within the organization and some question wether that is a good thing.

Problem 2

Hue Jackson and the Raiders lose the most explosive offensive weapon on the team for an extended period of time, Darren McFadden.

Solution 2

Ride Michael Bush and get the young receivers more involved in the offense.

Problem 3

Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore injured.

Solution 3

No good solution can be found as the Raiders continue to ride Michael Bush and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Meanwhile, John Madden, Ron Wolf, Ken Herock and Tom Flores are advising Mark Davis to interview Reggie McKenzie when the season ends. Mark’s advisors are telling him to be cautious about Hue Jackson’s ego and power grab within the organization.

Problem 4

Defensive secondary not playing well.

Solution 4

Hue crossed his fingers that Chuck Bresnahan, without the constant supervision of Al Davis, can turn the Raiders defense into something resembling a solid unit. Turns out to be a non-solution and one Hue Jackson can’t directly change.

Week 17

Hue Jackson heads into the final week of the season 8-7 after another epic defensive failure that he has little control over. His team has an outside chance to make the playoffs.

Hue Jackson, knowing his fate was now in limbo, his defensive coordinator incompetent and his team with a slim chance to make the playoffs, walks into Mark Davis’ office and asks for input on the General Manager hire as a last ditch effort to try to save his job. One he might have saved had he never walked though Mark’s office door.

Hue Jackson was acting in self-preservation and Mark Davis wisely refuses to grant Hue’s request. It was a slightly absurd request to begin with, allowing a head coach to have input in who is hired as his boss, but Mark Davis also viewed this as another Hue Jackson power grab. Mark Davis had been warned by his advisors to be careful regarding Hue Jackson’s ego and power aspirations.

The Raiders lose in week 17 and Hue Jackson voices his frustrations with the team and his lack of input on the general manager hiring process in his final two press conferences and in-so doing seals his fate with the Raiders. Mark Davis and his advisors collectively grumble at Hue’s final act and finishing the season 1-4 does not help Hue’s case, no matter how little he had to do with the collapse.

Reggie McKenzie is interviewed and Mark Davis and John Madden give McKenzie the impression that firing Hue Jackson and starting fresh is the best course of action. That makes things easier for McKenzie, because he likely desired the ability to hire his own guy, but would have considered keeping Hue around if Mark Davis had requested it. McKenzie gets a clean start instead of delaying the inevitable firing of Hue Jackson to hire his own coach.

The decision was made to start fresh under McKenzie. It is naïve to think that either Mark Davis or Reggie McKenzie made the decision to fire Jackson on their own. It was a collective decision and ultimately it was a series of events that went against Hue Jackson. Jackson is still a good coach and will land on his feet somewhere. His defense, his ego and his act of self-preservation ended his short tenure with the Raiders. The Raiders will be better for it and Hue Jackson will be a better coach for it.

Reggie McKenzie to be Raiders GM

 Posted by at 11:20 PM  No Responses »
Jan 052012
 

Green Bay Packers director of football operations Reggie McKenzie will be the Raiders next general manager according to an ESPN report. The Raiders general manager had been owner Al Davis since 1963. Thus a new era of Raiders football begins behind a man for which there is little negative to be said.

McKenzie is an ex-Raiders linebacker, drafted by Al Davis with the assistance of then front office executive Ron Wolf. Wolf hired McKenzie again in Green Bay in 1994 as a scout and he’s spent the past 18 years working his way up in the Green Bay front office.

It has been speculated that McKenzie would attempt to bring Eliot Wolf (pictured above left) who is Ron Wolf’s son to Oakland with a promotion. The Packers would have the ability to block the Raiders as to avoid their entire front office from being raided in one offseason.

Mark Davis and Amy Trask are not football people, but have been consulting with Ron Wolf, John Madden and Ken Herock.  Herock’s son – Shaun Herock also works as a scout for the Packers and joined the Packers in 1994 the same year as McKenzie. Shaun could also follow McKenzie to Oakland.

The obvious connections between two out of the three consultants made the hire an easy decision for Mark Davis and Amy Trask.

 

 

Life After Al: Who

 Posted by at 2:32 PM  No Responses »
Oct 102011
 

The passing of Al Davis has the Raider Nation and the league wondering what will become of the team. Who will run the football operations?

Mark Davis and Amy Trask already have a list of candidates to fill the football operations and/or general manager roles, but what isn’t certain is who is on the list and how long the Raiders intend to go without a head football man. The search for new football executives could last until early in the offseason at the longest. Who is on the list? Here is a list of potential candidates.

 

Bill Parcells

Parcells knew Al Davis for 48 years and he’s close with the Davis family. Parcells is working for ESPN and has to be itching to get back into the game. He’s likely high on the list of candidates. He said the only reason he could never work for the Raiders is that he wouldn’t want to ruin his friendship with Al Davis and that he and Al would butt heads too much. With Al Davis’ passing Parcells could take over full football operations for his friend’s team. He’s one of the few candidates the Raiders could bring in that wouldn’t be haunted by the black cloud of Al Davis’ legacy. Parcells has his own legacy and he understands Raiders history. The only question is if the Raiders can afford what Parcells is likely to demand as compensation. Parcells is one candidate the Davis family could trust completely and that trust and total power over the football side of things could be appealing to him.

 

Ron Wolf

Wolf retired in 2001 from his General Manger position with the Packers. That leaves some doubt whether he’d even be interested in returning to football. He has a proven track record of success in football and with the Raiders. Wolf worked closely with Al Davis to build the Raiders in the 1970s and was the man who brought Brett Favre and Reggie White to the Packers in the 1990s. He’s familiar with the Raiders, if that is a quality that means something to Mark Davis is yet to be determined.

 

Jon Gruden

Plenty of people in the Raiders facility still love Gruden. He’s also familiar with Raiders coach Hue Jackson. While Gruden has a few things going for him, he’s not experienced at running a front office and he likely wants to coach again which would leave Hue Jackson out of the equation even if he continues to be successful. Gruden’s ideal location is one in which he gets control over the roster and is the head coach, similar to the role Pete Carrol has is Seattle. It would be hard to see Gruden accepting less and with Hue Jackson having success it would be hard to see the Raiders giving him everything he wants.

 

John Madden

Another good friend of Al Davis, but he’s retired now and hasn’t shown much interest in un-retiring. Madden doesn’t fly and he’s far removed from the daily grind required from a front office executive in the NFL. Mark Davis  and Amy Trask could use Madden as a consultant in the hiring process, but likely nothing more. That doesn’t mean Madden might not have an impact on the Raiders future, certainly Al Davis laid out a plan for his organization and it wouldn’t make much sense for Mark Davis  not to lean on his father’s most trusted football resources. Don’t expect Madden to get too involved outside of a supporting role for the organization.

 

John Herrera

Herrera has been Al Davis’ mouthpiece for many years. He’s been away from the player personnel side of football since he came back to the Raiders in 1985. He previously served as a scout for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as  director of player personnel for the CFL’s BC Lions and as general manager of the Saskatewan Roughriders. Herrera’s reputation as Al Davis’ personal slave wouldn’t make this a very inspiring hire and how close he is with Mark Davis and Amy Trask is not clear. Given the Raiders insistence that they would have interviews, hiring of Herrera doesn’t seem likely, but he is at least worth mentioning.

 

Bill Cowher

With Al Davis out of the picture would Cowher consider an opportunity with the Raiders? He could get the full control over the football operations he desires and he’s long been rumored as a big fish candidate. He’s yet to land a job or he’s turned down offers and he’s been out of the game for several years now. Like Gruden, Cowher may want full control as well as being the head coach and that may immediately disqualify Cowher. He doesn’t seem like a logical fit for the Raiders and his history with the Steelers could also play into the decision for both sides.

 

Matt Millen

He failed miserably as the GM of the Lions. Why would Mark Davis and Amy Trask even consider bringing Millen in to drive the Raiders ship into the ground? Color this one as the worst possible decision the Raiders could make, but he does have Raiders ties and experience even if that experience is terrible.

 

Tom Flores

He’s aging and he’s pretty far removed from the everyday grind. As one of the people Al Davis trusted he immediately becomes another advisor like John Madden. I’m sure Flores will consult the Raiders new brain trust on the coaching hire, but he’s not going to run the football operations anytime soon.

 

Bruce Allen

He’s already a general manager and he’s never had a lot of success without Al Davis. Why would he make a lateral move west? Will he be perceived as a backstabber to Mark Davis and Amy Trask the way he was to Al Davis? Allen left the Raiders to join Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay and hired Mike Shanahan in Washington. Those two men didn’t exactly leave Oakland on favorable terms and it would be a strange move for him to make a lateral transfer to come back to the Raiders.

 

Eric DeCosta

The current director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens. He’s spent his entire career with the Ravens working his way up in the ranks. With Ozzie Newsome as the GM there really isn’t a logical next step up for DeCosta in Baltimore. Could DeCosta be lured by the prospect of wearing the GM hat in Oakland? He’s been with the Ravens for 15 years, so he may have apprehension about making the switch. Still, he’s young and has a good track record and is certainly familiar with Hue Jackson. If DeCosta isn’t on the list Mark Davis and Amy Trask have put together, he should be.