Has Reggie MacKenzie helped or hurt the Raiders?

[raiderroo]

I believe with what has been done so far he is helping the Raiders but until we actually see what this team does (and it will take more than just 1 season) we will not know for sure either way. But I do feel confident in saying the McKenzie and Davis are not trying to sabatoge the team.

They we were left with a team that has very little depth no room in the cap to do much and no draft picks. He is just trying to get things headed in the direction he believes will be best for the team for now and going forward.

[RaiderReckoning]

Firing Hue was a tough call, but I think it'll turn out to be the right choice in the long run. I think Allen has a winner's mentality and a strong presence. That was the most important move of the offseason, and imo it'll turn out to be a great one.

I think McKenize's done a great job of adding to roster with almost no cap room and a limited number of draft picks... i love the moneyball free agents and the potential of the late round picks

so my read on his first offseason is that he's done a great job under the circumstances..

I wasn't sold on him at the time of the hiring, but I think the franchise is in good hands now

[BVJ]

Firing Hue was a tough call, but I think it'll turn out to be the right choice in the long run. I think Allen has a winner's mentality and a strong presence. That was the most important move of the offseason, and imo it'll turn out to be a great one.

I think it was a tough call for some on this board and some of the media, but I don't think it was a tough call for McZ. He saw that last press conference where Hue Jackson hung himself. Not to mention McZ came in here wanting to change everything, and how could Hue Jackson be taken seriously as the coach as far as discipline goes when the previous year he set record for most penalties. I think it was a much easier decision for McZ than most here think.

[RaiderReckoning]

I think it was a tough call for some on this board and some of the media, but I don't think it was a tough call for McZ. He saw that last press conference where Hue Jackson hung himself. Not to mention McZ came in here wanting to change everything, and how could Hue Jackson be taken seriously as the coach as far as discipline goes when the previous year he set record for most penalties. I think it was a much easier decision for McZ than most here think.

fair enough..

I'm looking at it from the perspective of Jackson being a .500 coach his first season who had the team tied for 1st in the division. they performed well on his side of the ball considering the injuries they had during the yr.

I agree with your point about the press conference and the penalties. passing the buck is the absolute worst move a leader can make, and Jackson made a habit of it whenever things went wrong. that's why I think it was the right move.

[BVJ]

Passing the buck is probably what got him canned. He took 0 responsibility that game, and let's be honest 0 stops on defense.. that deserved a firing.

[als_shadow]

I'm in the middle of a heated discussion with a guy on another forum

.

What would you expect Hue Jackson to say to you?

Stop arguing with Hue! or RaiderAztec

[corleone]

fair enough..

I'm looking at it from the perspective of Jackson being a .500 coach his first season who had the team tied for 1st in the division. they performed well on his side of the ball considering the injuries they had during the yr.

I agree with your point about the press conference and the penalties. passing the buck is the absolute worst move a leader can make, and Jackson made a habit of it whenever things went wrong. that's why I think it was the right move.

. . .But a head coach does not just have 1 side of the ball. A head coach controls offense, defense, special teams, clock management, timeouts, challenges, practices, OTA's and every other aspect of a football team other than personel decisions made by the GM. A head coach does not get to sit back and take glory in a slightly better than average offense with a league worst defense. Hue had some serious issues in regards to being an NFL head coach. When things went well, Hue would brag and gloat to the media(we all saw it here when someone would post the PC's). When things went bad, Hue would throw others under the bus. You can't have that kind of roller coaster ride from your head coach. It became clear that rumors of Hue "losing the locker room", were probably not that far off.

The same will apply to DA. I have great belief in DA, and it is well known that he will be controlling the defense, but if all of a sudden our Offense is 32nd in the league, Allen will share the blame. A HC does not get a pass because his background is one or the other. He gets hired as a HC because he knows all aspects of the game well enough to manage all aspects of the game. If that wasn't the case, then teams would have 2 Head Coaches, one for O and one for D.

[nor_cal_raider7]

Since "We can't know that yet" has already been covered, the only thing we can do right now is speculate. The following advantages that we have under RM seem to be:

1. Ushering us into the modern day NFL

2. The ability to compete for hiring the best coaches in the NFL

3. The ability to draft in a more reasonable fashion. This is because our scouting department will no longer be the most anemic in the league

4. The ability to attract free agent talent without paying top dollar

5. The ability to attract top free agent talent, period.

6. Accountability for coaches and players. For example, the gameplanning, schemes, and player acquisitions will be the responsibility of a certain person. There's no more having to wonder if Al was meddling or if the coach or player in question is just doing a good or bad job. If we run a single-high safety defense against San Diego it'll be because the DC deemed it the best scheme against that team, not because he didn't have any choice. There won't be any mystery as to who to blame or give credit to.

7. Fan and media accessibility. We're no longer the North Korea of the NFL. If RM runs it like I think he will, we'll have open practices that the fans and media can come to. It also seems likely that RM won't be some reclusive Howard Huges-like figure pulling all the strings from the shadows.

8. No more distraction from ownership: Let's face it, Al ruled over everything. Not only did the coaching staff have to worry about winning the game, they also had to worry about how to win the game as well as suffering Al's wrath if they didn't win his way and especially if they lost. IOW, they can do their job without having someone looking over their shoulder and second guessing them at every step. They also don't have to worry about scholarship players. If a guy doesn't cut it, he's gone; even if he does have 3.5 speed. Conversely, they can keep a guy who might not be lightning fast but fits the scheme and plays well within it.

That's just off the top of my head. If I thought about it more in depth, me and a lot other people here could write a 600 page book about what's been wrong with this team for the last 20 years.

I agree with 2,7, and 8 but it is way to early to say anything else. Al did win 3 championships and got to two more. Some owners can only dream of that.

[Raider Ran]

Since "We can't know that yet" has already been covered, the only thing we can do right now is speculate. The following advantages that we have under RM seem to be:

1. Ushering us into the modern day NFL

2. The ability to compete for hiring the best coaches in the NFL

3. The ability to draft in a more reasonable fashion. This is because our scouting department will no longer be the most anemic in the league

4. The ability to attract free agent talent without paying top dollar

5. The ability to attract top free agent talent, period.

6. Accountability for coaches and players. For example, the gameplanning, schemes, and player acquisitions will be the responsibility of a certain person. There's no more having to wonder if Al was meddling or if the coach or player in question is just doing a good or bad job. If we run a single-high safety defense against San Diego it'll be because the DC deemed it the best scheme against that team, not because he didn't have any choice. There won't be any mystery as to who to blame or give credit to.

7. Fan and media accessibility. We're no longer the North Korea of the NFL. If RM runs it like I think he will, we'll have open practices that the fans and media can come to. It also seems likely that RM won't be some reclusive Howard Huges-like figure pulling all the strings from the shadows.

8. No more distraction from ownership: Let's face it, Al ruled over everything. Not only did the coaching staff have to worry about winning the game, they also had to worry about how to win the game as well as suffering Al's wrath if they didn't win his way and especially if they lost. IOW, they can do their job without having someone looking over their shoulder and second guessing them at every step. They also don't have to worry about scholarship players. If a guy doesn't cut it, he's gone; even if he does have 3.5 speed. Conversely, they can keep a guy who might not be lightning fast but fits the scheme and plays well within it.

That's just off the top of my head. If I thought about it more in depth, me and a lot other people here could write a 600 page book about what's been wrong with this team for the last 20 years.

4. The ability to attract free agent talent without paying top dollar

5. The ability to attract top free agent talent, period.

I agree with all in theory these 2 are still in question because we don't have any more to test this but I am pretty sure winning and no whackiness will help these.

[B. anthracis]

4. The ability to attract free agent talent without paying top dollar

5. The ability to attract top free agent talent, period.

I agree with all in theory these 2 are still in question because we don't have any more to test this but I am pretty sure winning and no whackiness will help these.

Sure. None of what I wrote is absolutely certain. That's why I qualified it at the beginning with "...appears to be..."

RM could send this thing into the tank just like Millen did with Detroit. It's certainly not impossible. But for the time being he is highly respected and all the things I posited are at least realistic possibilities that didn't exist when Al was still running things. We also know that if RM does send us down the crapper that he can be replaced. Of course that doesn't mean his replacement will be great but at least there's now the option of trying B if A isn't working. In the past it was A and only A with the exception of a few years when B (Gruden) came along. But then B was replaced with A again. It was crazy.

[Raider Ran]

Sure. None of what I wrote is absolutely certain. That's why I qualified it at the beginning with "...appears to be..."

RM could send this thing into the tank just like Millen did with Detroit. It's certainly not impossible. But for the time being he is highly respected and all the things I posited are at least realistic possibilities that didn't exist when Al was still running things. We also know that if RM does send us down the crapper that he can be replaced. Of course that doesn't mean his replacement will be great but at least there's now the option of trying B if A isn't working. In the past it was A and only A with the exception of a few years when B (Gruden) came along. But then B was replaced with A again. It was crazy.

Yep no doubt the definition of crazy in this case is repeating the same broken idea and expecting something to change. I was not trying to discount your opinion I am in agreement with you.

[N.O.RaiDaNation]

Stick to this site bro

[kinz]

Problems with the Raiders coming into 2012 ...

finances in disarray
coaching not at nfl level on defense
horrid lack of depth
very poor attitude on defense
lack of proven playmakers all over the field

McKenzie has started to address the first, it will take several years.
The second hopefully has been addressed, but the Knapp hire is to be questioned.
Little done on the third.
This will be the most interesting part of the season to me to see how the fourth is addressed.
No progress here. Couldn't expect it until item 1 is addressed.

I still say this will take a while. I hope RM is up to the job, but am not fooling myself that its a big job. Lets give him 4-5 years. Its a mess.

[corleone]

I still say this will take a while. I hope RM is up to the job, but am not fooling myself that its a big job. Lets give him 4-5 years. Its a mess.

Agreed, especially with no draft picks. 2012 could be a tough year for us, things would need to go our way for us to have a shot(for example. . .DMac stay healthy, CP3 have a 2005 type season, DHB continues to improve, Our defense start to gel under the new leadership). It's not out of the question that we could be contenders, but I also don't think it's realistic to expect a Super Bowl run. I'm optimistic, but I'm also realistic that we may be looking at another 8-8 type season, but at least I can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

[-Tenebrous-]

I'm in the middle of a heated discussion with a guy on another forum who is convinced that Reggie and Mark are sabotaging the franchise and that we were better off under AL's and Hue's control. Does anyone else want to weigh in on this? give me some pros and cons. TIA.

The honest answer is I am not sure - was firing Jackson RM's decision? If so, then yeah, he hurt the Raiders. However, if it was not his decision, then he did not.