Raiders hire Jon Gruden as Head Coach

[CKSteeler]

6 hours ago, The LBC said:

Length in and of itself really doesn't matter, it's how much of it was guaranteed.

We don't have the contract, but coaching contracts are typically fully guaranteed. This contract is unprecedented so there has to be some wiggle room for the Raiders. But they just paid this guy like he was the gold standard of head coaches. Not a guy fired by the Bucs after years of mediocrity and patience. He's had fewer double digit wins in a season than Jeff Fisher. And even if you just slice up their career windows, it's comparable.

This is Mark Davis's true blacksheep moment, if you ask me. He's a guy who was obsessed with bettering his old man who beat him down that he went after Gruden way too hard.

[DontTazeMeBro]

OMG this just gets dumber and dumber 

[CKSteeler]

17 minutes ago, The LBC said:

I don't want to necessarily speak for @Oregon Ducks because he has some out-there reasoning behind some of his positions, but speaking as someone with legitimate concern about the same position, adaptation was never Gruden's strength and until shown something to substantiate that he's learned how to do it, it's difficult to buy into him suddenly being able to have adapted to the modern game (now 15-ish years further from the last time he coached) just because.  He has a massive tape library.  Good for him.  It's probably a boon.  But from the sound of it, it's a boon for his defensive staff, it isn't going to do a heck of a lot for his offense if he doesn't translate notes from that tape library into changes within his offensive scheme to exploit weaknesses of the opposition shown in the tape (and that still assumes the player(s) haven't developed that weakness out of their game, they're playing in the same scheme... under the same or a similar coordinator, etc.).

The other genuine concern I have is Gruden's personality.  It's great for TV and it can be great for a team... when you're winning.  We saw this in Tampa, and I believe we heard about it after the fact from a number of Tampa players who were under him during those years they were struggling to make the playoffs, his constant chatter and the general attitude in the manner he addresses players can be really grating to players if the team is losing or in a stretch of adversity.  It becomes annoying and can breed resentment in a hurry.  Honestly, I don't think it's all that different from Chip Kelly's personality and we saw firsthand how quickly Chip lost that Eagles locker room when adversity reared its head and they weren't DVOA dynamos.

A number of Tampa players hated him while they were winning. Mainly because they saw him as a hanger-on more than a leader.

Also, having or watching a lot of tape doesn't mean much. Any idiot can watch film. Not everyone can make sense of it and gain the right insights. Those draft tweets posted? They don't bode well or indicate a guy who really has a great feel for the game. The best you can say is that he was in his political mode where he wanted to blow smoke up everyone's ***. But the way he rated guys, it's harder to find him hitting on success than it is whiffing terribly. But I'm supposed to believe that because he has notes on some blocking scheme he saw years back and really liked, he's now going to be able to implement it (which means, finding the right players and teaching it)?

Let me also just suggest that what amounts to a library of old game tapes for fired football coaches probably isn't the best business venture. I wonder how much money this guy actually has saved away.

I think he's a complete shyster who is going to fail miserably. He probably thinks he can get a few good years out of the gig with the talent on the roster. I don't.

[BayRaider]

This is a Al Davis contract. Hope Mark doesn't turn into Al. I've seen enough bad Raider contracts in my life.

[NickButera]

The largest coaching contracts aren't always all real cash money. Example: Jim Harbough's 9 million a year is really only 7 million a year in salary, and 2 million a year in life insurance policy for 7 years that gets paid out to is family or refunded to the school.  I heard a couple times that there's still a good chance a portion of this 10 million is structured oddly, perhaps even he's being cashed out with equity in the team (either getting non controlling equities, or Mark cashing out team equity for him). We'll never know. 

There's also annual revenues to be considered. Nick Saban brings in (USA Today est) 148 million annually to the school.  The raiders right now sit bottom half of the league in Team valuation (2.4 bil) and revenue (240 ish mil). They'll shoot to top 5 after the vegas move and their valuation should be nearer 3.4 bil and 340 mil in annual revenues. No to mention what Jon will help net during the remaining oakland years with fandom excitement.  Because of the position of the Raiders revenues currently and the direction it's about to take, there is LOTS of ceiling room. A contract of this size won't hurt this team a fraction. Most likely, they'll make up the entire contracts value in year 1.  If Oakland didn't have this vegas move, it may be another story. 

Also, the whole "Jon took Dungy's team to the superbowl" DO realize that the team that Gruden built (2001 raiders) met him in the super bowl right? It's an oversimplified argument. 

[Dr LBC]

5 minutes ago, NickButera said:

Also, the whole "Jon took Dungy's team to the superbowl" DO realize that the team that Gruden built (2001 raiders) met him in the super bowl right? It's an oversimplified argument. 

That's doing a pretty major disservice to Al, who was still GM and tippy-top of the Player Personnel ladder till his death.

[CKSteeler]

Gruden didn't built any roster in Oakland, and the only real credit to him is that his entire gameplan against Oakland was based on insider knowledge of Oakland's offense. It was a defensive team going against an offensive team. What insight did the Raiders have into the Bucs defense? None. Gruden knew the Oakland offense and its players like the back of his hand. That was a woefully unprepared Oakland team that changed little leading up to the game.

[jrry32]

1 hour ago, The LBC said:

That's doing a pretty major disservice to Al, who was still GM and tippy-top of the Player Personnel ladder till his death.

It's doing a major disservice to Gruden to pretend that he didn't play the biggest role in that team's success. Gannon went from a journeyman to a MVP under him.

[Iamcanadian]

Interesting hire and no doubt an expensive one, it will be quite a challenge to see how the Raiders do under him, considering returning HC from retirement has not worked out that well in the past, as the game continues to evolve because of rule changes etc. etc.

Gruden may well struggle to get up to speed!!!

[sdrawkcab321]

2 hours ago, Iamcanadian said:

Interesting hire and no doubt an expensive one, it will be quite a challenge to see how the Raiders do under him, considering returning HC from retirement has not worked out that well in the past, as the game continues to evolve because of rule changes etc. etc.

Gruden may well struggle to get up to speed!!!

How many other guys came back from retirement to be a HC? Gibbs and vermeil were pretty good. 

[bigbadbuff23835]

Man, i tell ya, that Gruden guy...he’s somethin else.

[TheBeast23]

3 hours ago, bigbadbuff23835 said:

Man, i tell ya, that Griffen guy...he’s somethin else.

He’s a real football player. He’s a grinder!! Lol can’t stand that. Good insight Jon

[WheatieMan]

Is Gruden still calling the game today or no?

[RaidersAreOne]

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

Quote

Gruden’s contract is backloaded

And as it relates to the contract given by the Raiders to former and future coach Jon Gruden, the deal is backloaded, with less than $10 million per year being paid in the early years.

How much less? One league source said that my round-number example of $25 million over the first five years and $75 million over the final five years from PFT PM isn’t that far off the mark. More specifically, the source says the early years are much closer to $5 million annually than $10 million.

One big reason for that relates to state income tax. In California, where the Raiders will be at least for a year, the maximum rate is 13.3 percent. In Nevada, there is no state income tax.

[PFM18]

39 minutes ago, WheatieMan said:

Is Gruden still calling the game today or no?

Unless anything's been announced he's still scheduled to. Guessing he'll call this game and then formal announcements will be made from the Raiders in due course.