When Jon Gruden was hired to replace fired head coach Jack Del Rio, the Raiders were one year removed from winning 12 games and earning their first playoff berth since the 2002 season. Gruden wasn’t impressed, to say the least. He immediately set out to remake the team in his image, a process that he
Mark Davis, Jon Gruden have fallen well short of expectations set for Las Vegas inaugural season
Uh, did you really mean Reggie was more hit than miss? Me thinks it should read more miss than hit!
Yeah, I meant the other way around. Thanks, Eric.
I thought Reggie did much of the work to fix the salary cap? What were the salary cap issues when Gruden took over?
I still find it hard to believe that Gruden had to completely undo all that was built before him and only one year a way from a 12-4 season. A complete roster rebuild immediately following a complete roster rebuild makes (and made) no sense to me.
But, now we are where we are and the team will need to win to stay relevant. Would be nice if they could not take a dump when on National TV as has been their wont for the past few years.
They didn’t have much to work with in Gruden’s first year, which is why he pleaded with everyone late in the season to just wait till next offseason, when he could finally make the kind of changes he wanted to make.
I was watching the 2018 replay of the Raiders – Browns game. It was Gruden’s first win as HC (in his 2nd tenure)
It was amazing to see the roster turnover that has occurred with the team in only 2 years.
Most amazing is the turnaround from 2018 to 2019, which served to confirm that Gruden completely whiffed in free agency his first go-round. It’s almost as if he knew that everyone he signed was going to be a rental, one-year player.
Gruden said our Raiders were a team he expected to win with immediately.
Now a couple years down the road, fans are not going to be happy opening up a new stadium with a team that continues to lose.
Like you said, no more excuses.
It’s important to remember that when most teams have a breakout season, few saw it coming before the season started. Given that, this could be the season that Gruden, Carr and the Raiders jell into a formidable team and surprise folks. They certainly have the talent on offense and more on defense than they have at any point in Gruden’s return.
It’s interesting, sad but interesting, that none of the pundits or experts are even talking about the Raiders. Along with the markets set by the betting firms, it presents a very eloquent view of the relevance, or lack of it, of our beloved team.
Let’s be honest, most people don’t care about the team. Long-term ineptitude has undermined the importance of most of the rivalries that we care so much about from the Silver & Black side of things.
For the Chiefs, Steelers, Patriots, Ravens and other AFC leaders, we appear as a “W” or 2 on their season projection.
It’s a long way back for our beloved team and the rebuilding has to stop so we can grow on the field and start the long march back to relevance that we flirted with in 2016.
The thing I am pinning my faith on is the addition of Mike Mayock to act as a counter to Gruden’s madder impulses. Let’s hope we can keep him on board to give us a chance.
Against all the above, logic & track record since 2002, I’m still proud to believe and to say: Go Raiders!
Well put, Andy. Becoming relevant entails teams looking at their schedule and no longer viewing the Raiders as an almost sure-fire victory. As you stated, that’s how teams have tended to view the Raiders most seasons since 2002. It’s one of the things that Gruden changed quickly during his first tenure. He made strides last season. But there’s still work to do in that regard.
The team was relevant and talked about before the 2017 season and the team wet the bed. Then, Gruden completely dismantles the team, so of course, the Raiders will not be relevant until they start winning games. Start winning games and recruiting becomes much easier–maybe you are an attractive destination for a player like Tom Brady who wants nothing more than to continue winning championships. A shiny new stadium and facilities is nice, but players want that ring. The Raiders have not been anywhere near that discussion for decades. Meanwhile the Pats, Packers, Saints, Seahawks, Steelers, and the like are perennial favorites. Remember when the Raiders were in that conversation? Yeah, it was a long time ago. Rebuilds (see Browns) are not appreciated until the wins come.
I think Gurden wants a team in his image players that love football 1st. The only way to beat better teams is heart and smarts. Last year the Raiders were better than their record showed but no way the NFL was going to let Oakland make the playoffs in there last year. That said it’s time to put up or shut up. I say they make the playoffs.