As per the Raiders’ official team website, Oakland named Bob Sanders LB Coach on January 25. Here are some details from the press release:

Photo: Rick Stewart, Getty Images

Oakland completed its coaching staff Friday, naming former NFL defensive coordinator Bob Sanders linebackers coach. Head Coach Dennis Allen made the announcement.

A 33-year veteran, Sanders’ addition gives the Raiders a staff with 438 combined overall coaching experience, 198 in the NFL. Sanders joins Jason Tarver and Allen as one of three individuals on staff with NFL defensive-coordinator experience. Meanwhile, three coaches on the offensive side (Greg Olson, Tony Sparano and Al Saunders) have been an NFL offensive coordinator. And, not counting Allen, two former NFL head coaches are now on Oakland’s staff: Saunders and Sparano.

Sanders has a strong reputation as a linebackers coach, in addition to his time coaching defensive line. He spent the last four seasons with Buffalo, having joined the Bills as defensive line coach (2009), then spent the next two seasons (2010-11) as outside linebackers coach, before taking over the entire linebacking unit in 2012.

Follow the link above to read more on Sanders’ NFL career.

HC Dennis Allen alongside GM Reggie McKenzie. Photo: Tony Gonzales

It’s here, football fans. The dreaded weekend between the AFC/NFC Championship games and the Super Bowl is upon us, and personally, I am starving for a football fix. The good news is that you can tune into the Senior Bowl happening today at 3 p.m. EST on the NFL Network, where the nation’s top 106 football players will be on display!

With Raiders fans specifically in mind, today is a big day for Oakland HC Dennis Allen and some other Raiders staff. Allen will be coaching the North, while Detroit Lions’ HC Jim Schwartz will be leading the South. Today and this past week in practice will give these two NFL head coaches an in-depth look at college seniors entering the 2013 NFL Draft – as a Raiders fan, this is vital. Also as a Raiders fan, you should be watching today and keeping your eye on defensive backs in particular, just in my opinion. Allen will even be mic’d up, which could get interesting!

From the Raiders’ official website, staff have been blogging about Senior Bowl practice since day one. Here is an excerpt from yesterday:

AN ORGANIZED COACH: Showing his attention to detail, Head Coach Dennis Allen in a corner room at the Mobile Convention Center Friday night took time to address sideline organization. The space just outside the thick white sideline is reserved for coaches and substitutions, he said. Also, when units come off the field, they are to sit in specific locations on the two team benches. Quarterbacks, for instance, need to sit next to the press-box communications unit, which they’d use to talk to coaches upstairs.

Earlier in the day, Allen devoted a portion of the team walk-through to the pregame routine, and was sure to communicate clearly the exact locations and descriptions of drills, so every player knew where to go and when. He wants his team to look professional.

Allen also made sure the team knew the Saturday schedule, including breakfast, taping and bus-departure times.

He then reminded the team that the game would be played with NFL rules. For instance, two feet in bounds, not one foot, are needed for a completion, offensive players are not down until they’re down by contact, and in the passing game, contact farther than 5 yards from the line of scrimmage is illegal.

…

DL coach Terrell Williams & defensive quality control Eric Sanders from the Oakland Raiders take part in practice. Photo: Tony Gonzales

Read more about the full week of Senior Bowl practice (North) by following the link above or visit the “News” section of the Oakland Raiders official team website.

The Senior Bowl will kick off today at 3pm EST, 1pm CST on the NFL Network.

Former special teams coach in Philadelphia, Bobby April, has been hired as the new Oakland Raiders STC. Photo: USA Today Sports

The announcement of special teams coach, Bobby April, being hired in Oakland came on Saturday afternoon. April brings a wealth of special teams experience to a Raiders squad that desperately lacked this past season, having coached in the league since 1991 with such teams as the Falcons, Steelers, Saints, and most recently the Eagles.

As per a post by the Raiders’ media relations on the official website this past weekend:

The Oakland Raiders have hired Bobby April as special teams coordinator, head coach Dennis Allen announced Saturday.

One of the most respected special-teams tutors in the NFL, April has served as an assistant coach in the league for 21 seasons, including the last three with the Philadelphia Eagles.

April has overseen NFL special-teams units since 1991, when he entered the league with the Atlanta Falcons following an extensive collegiate coaching career.

Last season, Eagles punter Matt McBriar averaged 46.5 yards per punt and punt returner Damaris Johnson returned a punt 98 yards for a touchdown at Dallas on Dec. 2, marking a franchise record and tying for the third-longest punt return in NFL history.

Read more on the hiring of Bobby April along with some of his history here.

OC Greg Olson. Photo: AP

Now that the Oakland Raiders have confirmed the hiring of OC Greg Olson, what can we the fans expect now? The following is an excerpt of Levi Damien’s article on Silver & Black Pride (SB Nation) explaining a little of what’s in store for the O in 2013:

Last season the Raiders’ offense was lost. They had an offensive coordinator who had a very specialized set of skills. He was a strict zone blocking specialist who wasn’t known for his play calling abilities. He was asked to take his scheme and mold this team to fit that scheme. It had disastrous results.

Now, the Raiders have a new offensive coordinator on board so it is back to the drawing board. While he must figure out what kind of players he has to work with, the players must in turn figure out what they have in a coach. This is what we can expect.

1. Zone blocking is out

The offensive line never caught onto it last season. They had a great season in the power blocking scheme in 2011 and were unable to build upon that success. At some point last season they mixed in more power blocking and it helped Darren McFadden immensely.

What we will see instead are more gap and isolation schemes which will allow McFadden to run downhill as he does best. This kind of scheme is what had the undrafted Lagarrette Blount have a breakout season and Steven Jackson have the best seasons of his career.

2. Palmer to air it out

The Raiders led the league last season in yards after the catch. It sounds great but it was primarily because they very rarely attempted long passes. Olson worked with Drew Brees while at Purdue, helped Mark Bulger throw for 4301 yards with the Rams, and Josh Freeman have the best season of his career in 2010 (25 TD’s to 6 int, 95.9 passer rating). He likes his big armed pocket passers and that’s what Carson Palmer is.

Out of the West Coast Offense last season, Palmer had one of his best seasons as far as passing yards are concerned. But it became clear that scoring was a serious issue. Yards don’t mean much when it takes 60 passes to get them which eventually is going to result in an interception (or two) and drives often end in field goals. This offense should be more what Palmer was used to since entering the NFL.

Olson won’t abandon the virtues of the WCO entirely but he also will not run it strictly. He preaches play action though he doesn’t always put it into practice.

Continue reading Levi Damien’s article here.

Personally, I am confident in this hiring. What will be most beneficial for the Raiders’ offense is Olson’s power blocking style – something that Darren McFadden would appreciate and thrive under.

What do you think of this hiring, Raider Nation? Are you looking forward to the zone-blocking scheme being canned, or do you think we should have went forward with what had been started of it in the 2012 season?

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OC Greg Olson while with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Photo: Brett Davis, USA Today Sports

First broken by Bill Williamson of ESPN last night, the Oakland Raiders have reportedly hired OC Greg Olson. The news still has not yet been confirmed on the Raiders’ Twitter feed nor is it anywhere to be seen on their official website.

Olson has plenty of prior NFL coaching experience. This is an exert from CSN Bay Area’s staff report regarding the hiring from last night:

Olson has 25 years of coaching experience and 10 at the NFL level. Prior to joining the Jaguars, Olson was offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011, a role he also filled with the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams. He was the San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach from 2004-2005.

As the news spread across the Twitterverse last night, Raider Nation seemed less than thrilled with this (not-yet-confirmed) decision. In my opinion, RB Darren McFadden would be one player who would welcome Olson with open arms, as he is best known for his knowledge in power-blocking.

While we wait for Oakland to confirm this news, the Denver Broncos have already announced that they have brought Raiders’ ex-OC, Greg Knapp, on board as QB coach. I almost had to stifle a laugh simply writing this, only because I do not believe Peyton Manning will be taking any kind of direction from a man who was fired by the Raiders, for obvious reasons. Maybe his primarily role will be for moral support? By all means… enjoy, Denver!

I will update this developing story once A) the team has confirmed, and B) more details are unveiled.

» Continue reading “Raiders Hire OC Greg Olson (Updated)”

Better late than never, but on New Year’s Eve (the Monday after the final games of the regular season were played, also known as Black Monday), the Raiders handed out pink slips to four offensive coaches. The following was posted on the team’s official website with regards to the firings:

Former Raider great and second-year assistant OL coach, Steve Wisniewski, reportedly cleared out his locker and left the Alameda facility this morning. ESPN reports have confirmed that Wisniewski made the decision to leave in order to “spend more time with his family”, but nothing more elaborate than that.

Steve Wisniewski played offensive lineman for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders from 1989-2001. For anyone who may not already be aware, Steve is also second-year G (now transitioning to C) Stefen Wisniewski’s, uncle. Unfortunately, Big Wiz will not be around to welcome Little Wiz to training camp in Napa Valley this coming Sunday.

Package Deal: 2011 second-round draft choice, G Stefen Wisniewski, being introduced around Raiders headquarters along with uncle & former Raiders legend OL, Steve Wisniewski (right), as new assistant OL coach. Photo taken by Raiders.com, Tony Gonzales, on April 30, 2011.

Apparently Wisniewski has not left the team altogether; he will continue in an ambassador role and will be used in game-day only situations when needed. Assistant coaches sometimes put in 100+ hours per week during the regular season, so this will cut down his workload substantially.

Having been on the sidelines since the late 80s, as both a player and now as a coach for a short time, I hope the gap that the eight-time Pro Bowler has occupied over the years that is now void will not affect the team in a negative way. Front office has also decided not to fill his position of assistant offensive line coach, according to the Raiders official website in a statement today, and will go ahead with new OL coach, Frank Pollack, at the helm. (This is an interesting decision, to say the least – having a new OL coach in Pollack go ahead, alone. We will see how it pans out in training camp.)

Hoping everything is okay at home and best wishes to you, Wiz!

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