Oakland Raiders long search for a new head coach finally ends
The Oakland Raiders have now finally decided to bring in the Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen as their new head coach.
That finally put an end to the long search they had dwelt into ever since Hue Jackson was fired by the general manager, Reggie McKenzie. McKenzie had Jackson sacked on the first day he took over as the new general manager. McKenzie desirous of a change in
the team spoke of a new “era” wanting to make the team a winning one.
McKenzie like other general managers wanted to bring his own man in and that is what Jackson pointed towards after leaving the team.
The firing of Jackson had come as a bit of surprise for most and certainly for Jackson himself who had not anticipated such a move. Shortly before McKenzie was hired, Jackson had seemed confident of his stay with the Raiders.
"I know people say, 'If they hire a G.M. then he's going to want to bring in his head coach.' Whoever comes here, I think it's going to be somebody who wants to share the same vision as I do." Jackson said.
Jackson had been hired by Al Davis but his son, Mark Davis who took over the team after his father died in October seemed to endorse McKenzie’s actions.
McKenzie had wanted to bring the best man available as the coach and that was probably the reason why he had such a long list of candidates available to him.
That list had included four Green Bay Packers’ coaches, Joe Philbin, Winston Moss, Dom Capers and Tom Clements. Philbin had landed as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach and the other three who had looked quite strong contenders on account of having worked with
McKenzie were ignored. McKenzie had worked with the Packers for 18 years and wanted to build the team on the Packers model. Therefore chances of a Packers coach coming in had seemed high.
One other strong contender who was overlooked was the interim coach of the Miami Dolphins, Todd Bowles. Bowles had led his team 2-1 in the last three games he coached. His chances seemed high as he is a respected defence specialist who bears a defensive
mind. The defence was the root cause why the Raiders were eliminated from the playoffs. Bowles was suitable to this scenario considering his background but was overlooked.
The sidelining of the Packers coach and Bowles therefore came out as a surprise because they all along had looked as the possible coach in future.
The list of the candidates being viewed by McKenzie did not end here. McKenzie also had his eyes on the offensive coordinator of Philadelphia Eagles, Marty Mornhinweg and offensive coordinator of Chicago Bears, Mike Tice.
Denver Broncos’ coordinator, Mike McCoy was another candidate being pursued by McKenzie but he had cancelled his interest in the team.
Allen who was selected after sidelining the rest of the candidates appears a good choice. Having remained a defensive assistant, he has the potential to improve the Raiders defence which at the time is their biggest problem.
Under Allen, the Broncos reached the playoffs this season with the AFC West title. The Broncos went through a lot of improvement in terms of points and yards allowed per game.
From being the worst team in the National Football League (NFL) for allowing 29.4 points per game, the Broncos improved to the 24th rank.
In terms of yards allowed, the Broncos improved to the 20th place from conceding 390.8 yards per game to 357.8 yards.
All this suits the Raiders pretty well as it is now expected that under Allen, the Raiders will finally be able to improve their fragile defence.
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