Sources: Raiders hire Jack Del Rio

[JonLP24]

The Oakland Raiders have hired Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio as their next head coach, league sources told ESPN.

An announcement of the agreement is expected as early as Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.

Sources told ESPN that Del Rio interviewed Tuesday night with owner Mark Davis, general manager Reggie McKenzie and former Raiders coach John Madden, the Hall of Famer who has been a proponent of Del Rio.

The other finalist for the job was Tony Sparano, who was the interim coach for the final 12 games of the season.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12168040/oakland-raiders-hire-jack-del-rio-head-coach

[Auggie]

1. Del Rio wants to hire Marc Trestman as OC

If that happens he's already made his biggest mistake.

[KamaAina]

2. They'll keep punting on third down

eh?

[hughee99]

3. It's good to see the Raiders finally making a serious commitment to mediocrity.

Things are looking up in Oakland.

[Dr. Strange]

8. Just Play, Baby!

[JonLP24]

10. Jacksonville has always been a team that competed

under Jack Del Rio. It is true they most had 7-9 seasons under the Colts, rise of the Texans, and up-and-down Titans. They had pretty strong defenses but his strength were running games from Fred Taylor to Maurice Jones-Drew. This is two areas is where Oakland has the most talent. However, they made some very bad calls at receiver including drafting Matt Jones as a TE in the first round. The best receiver that emerged was a 5th down selection who was Brandon Marshall's teammate at college.

Marc Trestman would be the opposite who is decent when it comes to the passing game but always had a horrendous running game under his watch. He won a Grey Cup because passing offenses are more important than the NFL, those that say Tebow would be a worse CFL than NFL QB know what they're talking about.

[hughee99]

11. My belief is that Del Rio is the sort of coach that could take over a 4-12 team and get them to 8-8

in 2 years, but he could also take over a 12-4 team and get them to 8-8 in 2 years.

[JonLP24]

12. I can't disagree with that

The recruiting of Marc Trestman is evidence of a move that shoots themselves in the foot.

He reminds me of Dirk Koetter, there is only 1 year where Andrew Walter was a dominant QB and that his Sophmore season which he started as a backup. Later ASU eventually fired him and Jacksonville scooped him up as an offensive coordinator. Despite their continued success running the ball, he was a coach where ASU either couldn't or wouldn't run the ball.

[Jamaal510]

4. This might be

the best that Raider fans could hope for. Probably no other big name coaches want to come here, and JDR made the Jaguars somewhat relevant during his stay there. It also might give him an extra incentive to win, seeing as how his family is from the East Bay and are Raider fans. At this point, what I'd be glad to see is improvement on both sides of the ball. I don't know how much more I can take of sub-.500 seasons and the Raider haters having ammo to troll with.

[Auggie]

5. Schedule for 2015:

Home: Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Minnesota, NY Jets

Away: Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Tennessee

6-10 or 7-9??? 8-8????????

[Jamaal510]

7. Hmm....

so their schedule looks somewhat softer than this past year. They don't have NE or the NFC West to deal with, and DEN probably won't be as stable, but those games against BAL, DET, and GB are going to be murder. PIT and CLE aren't exactly pushovers, either. MIN and NYJ are winnable, and CIN, SD, and KC seem to all be in limbo. The latter 3 could be toss-ups, too.
I'd be OK with 7-9 or 8-8.

[bluedigger]

6. Del Rio clearly has no aspirations for a .500 career coaching record.

You have to admire that.

[trotsky]

9. I don't know why one WOULDN'T coach the Raiders if asked. It's a sweet gig!

You'll be fired during your first season and still get a great paycheck.