Replacing DA's assistant coaches

**KrimzonR8R** · 12-10-2012, 08:05 AM

I'm hoping in the offseason, DA comes to his senses and fires most of the staff he has, but who are some viable alternatives that may be available next season?

1. OC - Obviously Knapp should be the first one out the door

2. O and D line - Both the O and D lines have taken some major steps backwards

3. LB - LBs haven't been bad but having McClain def didn't help

4. ST has been pretty awful and needs to be upgraded

5. Secondary has been one of the worst I've seen, although we didn't have much to start with either

6. Strength and Conditioning - Injuries are major problems, as no one has been able to stay healthy

7. DC - Do we replace Tarver? If so, with whom? Or do we give him another year with some decent players?

8. What do you guys think about getting Jim Washburn to come in as the new D line coach if we stay with a 4-3?

It's really hard to tell if the players suck this bad or it's the coaches that have come in recently. I know a lot of the players we have are pure garbage but who is salvagable at this point? I'm thinking Huff, DHB and DMC may stick around if they take a reduction in pay but the rest may be told to walk as FAs

**sa_dick_steele** · 12-10-2012, 08:16 AM

If they do replace Knapp, I think most of us would be happy about it. The scheme itself will stay though, so who will be available to coach it? Same goes for o-line.

Defensive is a question as well. Can Tarver's defense work? It's really hard to tell when there is no pass rush to help out a godawful secondary. Free agency and the draft will be VERY interesting this year to say the least.

**SF_Raider_Fan** · 12-10-2012, 08:17 AM

Many posters here believe that due to the reputation of the franchise ,head coaches (or GM's) would not want to be employed by the Raiders. That was likely true while Al Davis was living, but now I believe that working for the Raiders is as good as any NFL job.
However, I do not expect potential good offensive or defensive coaches would want to hitch themselves to Dennis Allen's wagon. First things first, he needs to go.

**oakpyrate81** · 12-10-2012, 08:18 AM

DC ? Keith Butler (Steelers LB's) 10 Years with Pitt or John Mitchell (Steelers DL) 18 Years with Pitt !

OC ? Pat Flaherty (New Jersey Giants OL Coach) 10 years with Big Blue !

**Worrier** · 12-10-2012, 08:21 AM

The strategic move is to keep the assistants. Bring them all back. Then if things are still FUBAR next year, you fire them next offseason.
It buys RM and DA a 3rd year.

Then we draft and start a rookie QB and there is your excuse for a 3'rd year of mediocre play.

**B. anthracis** · 12-10-2012, 09:07 AM

I don't understand how you hold the assistants responsible for the poor play but not the HC. If it were just one area, then okay. But we're bad in every aspect of the game. That starts at the top. If all the assistants go then it would seem the HC has to go too. And what if you keep the same staff on for another year and it's just as bad? Then you'll have had two drafts for players in a system that may not be desired by the next coaching staff. Bam, right back to square one with a hodgepodge of players, some acquired for Allen's system, some not.

After a season like this it's best to cut ties, eat the contract money for the coaches and move on. But if we do keep him, then you could get away with firing Knapp and the ST coach, but keep Tarver until he does have some players that aren't total ass. And also find a new STs coach.

**Moriarty** · 12-10-2012, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by B. anthracis

I don't understand how you hold the assistants responsible for the poor play but not the HC. If it were just one area, then okay. But we're bad in every aspect of the game.

The excuse is that we weren't allowed to talk to many of the assistants that we really wanted last year. Not sure I buy it completely, but the idea is you give DA another run at assistants with a fresh pool of guys whose contracts are ending and he maybe nets a few more guys he actually wants.

**KrimzonR8R** · 12-10-2012, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by B. anthracis

I don't understand how you hold the assistants responsible for the poor play but not the HC. If it were just one area, then okay. But we're bad in every aspect of the game. That starts at the top. If all the assistants go then it would seem the HC has to go too. And what if you keep the same staff on for another year and it's just as bad? Then you'll have had two drafts for players in a system that may not be desired by the next coaching staff. Bam, right back to square one with a hodgepodge of players, some acquired for Allen's system, some not.

After a season like this it's best to cut ties, eat the contract money for the coaches and move on. But if we do keep him, then you could get away with firing Knapp and the ST coach, but keep Tarver until he does have some players that aren't total ass. And also find a new STs coach.

I know DA is gonna get another year at least, that's why I was saying he needs to replace the assistants. I'm getting to the point that I don't know what's worse, the coaches or players or if it's all just got to go. But for sure, if DA doesn't make some changes, he's gonna find himself gone before too long. Davis may say that he's leaving it in RM's hands but push comes to shove and RM is gonna feel the heat to bring someone else in.

Did Hue do such a good job of masking what was wrong with this team that when this coaching staff came in it was just too much to handle? It's really eye opening how bad these players are. Our starters wouldn't even start for most teams out there. Our depth players probably shouldn't even be in the league. It's really depressing watching these guys flounder during games

**Moriarty** · 12-10-2012, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by sa_dick_steele

The scheme itself will stay though, so who will be available to coach it? Same goes for o-line.

Probably, but Mark made some provocative comments to reporters about how there's a certain style of football we're known for and that he wants to see us play, so I don't see this as a lock. Especially if we continue to get bad results with this scheme next year.

**johngalthawkeye** · 12-10-2012, 10:03 AM

Tarver should get another year. He has had absolute garbage to work with.

**Raiderrayrae** · 12-10-2012, 10:05 AM

get rid of the whole lot. There is nothing there. He sucks just as much or even more as the rest of them imho.

**AL 9000** · 12-10-2012, 10:19 AM

Replace the assistants?! Hell, replace Dennis Allen. This is the type of team you completely gut in the off season. Not the one last year.

**SoCalR8r** · 12-10-2012, 10:44 AM

I think of this in two ways. Either direction will help bring a little hope to the fans but doing neither will only hurt.

1) Some or most of the coaches have to be replaced. There is no way you can keep the entire staff intact and sell that to the fans. The Raiders have looked just too awful for that to inspire the fans to keep coming back next season. I think Knapp and Hoffman will need to be shown the door, at a minimum. But you can't throw everyone out except DA. As others have stated, that simply doesn't make sense. If everyone brought in is at fault than, ultimately, DA is at fault. I think this is most likely the course of action DA and Reggie will take but I think the schemes will roughly remain the same through the transition to some new coaches.

2)Clean out the entire coaching staff and start from scratch. I don't see this happening unless a marquee HC is willing to come here. By replacing the entire coaching staff, you are essentially starting from square 1 but it's not necessarily a step back considering the tremendous amount of turnover the roster will see this offseason. Regardless of whether it's DA or a new HC leading this team going forward, the roster will be completely different. This could happen if Mark steps in and wants this team to more closely resemble what Al was trying to build. Power running with a vertical stretch passing game on offense and a four man front rushing the passer with, I hope, a more dynamic secondary on defense. Again, this seems less likely to happen this offseason considering the huge lack of talent on the roster but if we continue to look this bad next season, I believe, this is a strong possibility next season.

Regardless, one of these 2 options needs to happen this offseason. It's become blatantly obvious to anyone watching this team play this season that the offense is under performing and the defense is over matched. Some of this can be attributed to players but some can also be attributed to schemes and coaching. We know players will be replaced, now it's time to identify the coaches that need to be replaced and start improving the situation rather than just standing pat.

**Siknu** · 12-10-2012, 11:09 AM

With a Unproven Bad Coach let's hope for luck on attracting decent coordinators. Some say that people don't want to coach the Raiders. I wonder how they feels about being an assistant on the Raiders with a unproven bad coach.