MODS PLEASE LOCK

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

If they don’t make playoffs next year then I expect this to end badly.

 

[laker4lifeman]

IMO this is the last time to get excited for a new hiring. Who knows how this team will look in 5 years or if Mark will even be the owner anymore.

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

NFL will own the Raiders when Mark defaults on loan.

 

[sohi 23]

I like to hate on Mark as much as the next dude but lol. He finessed 750 mil for free from a whole ******* state. He ain't defaulting on no loan.

Mark has made some nice business moves. I can't even hate.

 

[The_Isomotion31]

Gimme 1 here in my lifetime please

 

[raider5]

I like to hate on Mark as much as the next dude but lol. He finessed 750 mil for free from a whole ****ing state. He ain't defaulting on no loan.

Mark has made some nice business moves. I can't even hate.

I've said that **** on here before too. I hate MD, but you can't hate on the fact he got 3/4 of a Billy for free

I still think it's a dumb move in the long term though. It's such a short sighted win.

 

[laker4lifeman]

So Woodson would contemplate taking a coaching role if Gruden asks.

 

[laker4lifeman]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/06/grudens-contract-is-backloaded/

Details on the Gruden deal

 

[willie mcfly22]

 

[The_Isomotion31]

I know I know. Got to stay grounded...but give me like 2 days of ignorant celebration and excitement for this.

 

[laker4lifeman]

 

[raider5]

 

[Deleted member 185039]

I hope Reggie is that 30%.

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

I’d rather have C Wood in 2018 over Reggie Nelson

 

[njavier03]

Can we bring back Asomugha too?

 

[sohi 23]

 

[sohi 23]

Chiefs lost Nagy. That's always good news.

 

[The_Isomotion31]

Chiefs and lost in any sentence is ALWAYS good news.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Ted's article is free to read for the day. I suggest going to the site directly to see the videos that go along with his explanations:

https://theathletic.com/205084/2018...ens-version-of-the-modern-west-coast-offense/

What to expect from Gruden's version of the modern West Coast offense

By Ted Nguyen 5 hours ago

After winning a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in January 2003, Jon Gruden’s win/loss record began to slowly trend down — finishing 45-51 in his last six years with Buccaneers— until he was ultimately fired. From there, he embarked on a sabbatical that very few coaches have ever had the opportunity to do. He leveraged his job as an ESPN broadcaster to learn from NFL and college coaches to build his playbook and improve his practices to prepare for his eventual return.

Mark Schlereth, who worked with Gruden at ESPN, said: ”He’s got, I mean, literally everything an NFL team has, as far as film and everything else.”

Gruden has had unprecedented access to film, install tapes, playbooks, and coaches. Schlereth also added that Gruden still gets up at 3:30 in the morning to get to his football office in Tampa Bay to watch film and do research. He hasn’t been out of the game, he’s just been in the lab cooking.

Gruden recently proclaimed: “I’m excited with where I am studying the game.” Finally, he’s ready to put his research project into practice after nine years of learning. Seeing how Gruden has evolved as a coach and how he’s going to implement everything that he’s learned is part of the intrigue in seeing him come back.

How will his Frankenstein offense look? Derek Carr and the Raiders offense will be the vessel for his experiment. Gruden was first hired into the NFL as a special assistant to West Coast godfather Mike Holmgren. Though Gruden may deny it, he's a West Coast guy at heart.

“Do you know how many times we use three tight ends?” Gruden once said. “If that's West Coast, I'm Jimmy Carter.”

Though his offense slowly evolved in Oakland and Tampa Bay, the core West Coast concepts and principles were still prominent in his offense. Everything is timing-based and the drops are synced with the routes and the progression of the play. The offense stresses balance not only between run and pass but also play action and the screen game. Pretty much exactly what the Raiders lacked last season.



There are a few things to be intrigued about by this play from Gruden's final year in Oakland. First, there's the use of motion. Gruden's offense will involve heavy usage of motions and shifts, which wasn't nearly utilized enough by the Raiders offense last year.

Quarterback Rich Gannon puts Tim Brown into motion so he can build up speed — running the shallow in the “shallow cross” concept. Second, Jerry Rice is lined up in the slot and runs the “square in” behind him. The willingness to move receivers around likely will mean that Gruden will give Amari Cooper more snaps in the slot, where the offense can take better advantage of his ability to win quick.

Finally, you see how the timing of the play syncs up with the route combination. Gannon's first read is Brown on the shallow. He takes a five-step drop and if Brown is open, he'll throw to him without a hitch. He sees that Brown has tight coverage, so Gannon takes a hitch and throws to Rice just like how it's drawn up.

Last year, the Raiders passing game lacked timing. There were too many plays when Carr would get to the top of his drop and would still have to wait for the route concept to develop. There wasn't enough rhythm. Timing and rhythm will be heavily emphasized with Gruden. He'll give his signature scowl to Carr if he's rushing reads or if his footwork isn't right.

Gruden had an extremely varied run game with the Raiders. He used power concepts, G-kick, toss, and … brace yourselves … outside zone. Don't fret. He used it sparingly. His most-heavily utilized run was inside zone with a fullback lead.


With the Raiders' big offensive line and Jamize Olawale leading the way, I suspect Gruden will make this the Raiders bread-and-butter run concept again. His blending of spread concepts will include implementing zone read ideas with the same blocking scheme as well. I'd imagine his offense will look like a blend of Andy Reid's offense with the Chiefs and Sean McVay's offense with the Rams.


Gruden speaks with excitement and passion when he talks about the stress that spread-option football puts on a defense. These elements will likely be a huge part of his offense, but it's hard to see him forgetting about the importance of running the ball downhill from under center out of two-back sets or multiple-tight-end sets.

Having a strong play-action game is another tenant of the West Coast offense.

The great Bill Walsh said: “The play-pass is the one fundamentally sound football play that does everything possible to contradict the basic principles of defense. I truly believe it is the single best tool available to take advantage of a disciplined defense. By using the play-pass as an integral part of your offense, you are trying to take advantage of a defensive team that is very anxious, very intense and very fired-up to play football.”

One of offensive coordinator's Todd Downing's greatest sins last season was his negligence of the play-action game. It was too easy for defenses to read run or pass because of the lack of deception. If Gruden's offenses with the Raiders are any indication of what his offense will look like next season, Gruden will have a very expansive play-action package.

During his time broadcasting, he made it clear what his favorite concept is. In case you live on Mars and need a reminder, it's “Spider 2 Y Banana,” which has turned into a Gruden meme. “Spider 2” is the play-action protection with the line sliding to the left while the running back blocks the edge defender after the play fake.

The fullback leaks out into the flat after faking a block and is the quarterback's first read. Olawale will enjoy this role. He could easily surpass 40 receptions playing for Gruden. The “Y Banana” means the tight end runs a corner route.



On this variation of the play, Brown runs the “banana” route and catches the touchdown. So would this play be called “Spider 2 BROWN banana”?

Aside from the plays, Gruden will likely implement spread principles. The West Coast is known for having very verbose play calls. An extreme example of one of Gruden's calls is “U Zap to West Right Tight F Left Fake 99 Toss Crunch Naked Right Red Left Slot F Left Stop 83 Choice.” The call communicates the formation, shift, and everyone's responsibility separately and thoroughly.

Spread systems want to cut down on verbiage partly because communication has to be quicker to create tempo and because it's easier to memorize. For example, some spread systems will have one word that will describe the formation, motion, and play.

I believe Gruden's study of the spread offense will affect his terminology. It has to if he wants to use as much no-huddle as he says he wants to use:



Gruden is being a little hyperbolic in the video. He'll likely have his offense both huddle and in no-huddle, but it's clear that there will be stretches when Gruden is going to have Carr hurry the offense to the line in both shotgun, pistol, and under-center formations.

He may even use McVay's strategy of having the offense line up before the headset communication cuts off (15 seconds into the play clock) to get a look at the defense before making a call. I believe part of the reason why Gruden is set to hire Greg Olson as his offensive coordinator is to steal some of the ideas that helped McVay, whom Gruden has heavily influenced, turn the Rams from the worst offense in football to the best.



McVay uses a lot of celebrity names, which are much shorter and memorable than West Coast terminology. Olson soaked up McVay's system and helped fix Jared Goff as his quarterback coach and could bring some of those ideas to Gruden. Raiders fans may not be too excited about the Olson hire, but the truth is it's unrealistic to get a hot offensive coordinator candidate to play second fiddle to Gruden, who is likely going to use his playbook and call the plays. Olson will essentially be a glorified quarterbacks coach/quality control coach.

I'd expect Gruden's offense to look a lot like McVay's with the Rams, except Gruden's running game will be based more on inside zone and “Duo” (inside run with man blocking scheme), whereas McVay's offense is built on the outside zone. Gruden's version of modern West Coast will have a Reid element — spread option concepts blended in.

The concern with Gruden is that he may be tempted to install too much, too quickly. When Aaron Kromer worked as an assistant under Gruden in Oakland, he said, “We threw the ball 760 times and we only used 20 percent of what we have. So you could imagine the volume of what we have.”

Not all players can handle such a high volume of plays without getting confused. As excited as Gruden is to get to work, it may not be ideal to install too much, too fast.

Overall, Gruden will provide the Raiders with a complete system and not only from a schematic standpoint. Aside from adding to his playbook, he's devoted time to researching why and how the most successful coaches in the country run their programs. Everything that goes into how he runs the Raiders has been thought out and calculated. If things don't work out, it won't be because of negligence or oversight. Will it be good enough for a 10-year tenure? Only time will tell.

 

[sohi 23]

Wanted John Morton but whatever.
Hopefully Greg Olsen picked something up from McVay + its good that Olsen & Carr are familiar with each other.

Not too hyped on the Gunther signing but we'll see, I guess.

 

[The_Isomotion31]

Was Greg Olson originally fired to get rid of the previous staff and for JDR to bring his guys in?

 

[HNL HI]

An extreme example of one of Gruden's calls is “U Zap to West Right Tight F Left Fake 99 Toss Crunch Naked Right Red Left Slot F Left Stop 83 Choice.” The call communicates the formation, shift, and everyone's responsibility separately and thoroughly.

damn

 

[Deleted member 185039]

Was Greg Olson originally fired to get rid of the previous staff and for JDR to bring his guys in?

Yes. It's like we are going back in time.

 

[HNL HI]

 

[Deleted member 185039]

Derek Carr and Khalil Mack have had four head coaches and staff changes since their arrival in Oakland.