The Raiders introduced their new head coach today. Dennis Allen comes in as the 18th head coach in Raiders’ history. He is firmly in the tradition of the Raiders hiring upstart, firey young head coaches. In fact, he is replacing one in Hue Jackson. And on Monday, we got to meet Allen for the first time since he signed his four year deal to become the Raiders’ next head coach.
The press conference got started with Mark Davis at the podium to make the initial announcement much as his father always had in previous seasons. But unlike his father, Mark did not sit at the table. The two seats at the table were for general manager Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen. After Davis made the introduction, he handed things over to McKenzie and exited stage left.
“Today is a great day for the Oakland Raiders,” said McKenzie. “As you know, I wanted to execute a detailed search in finding the next head coach for the Oakland Raiders. This search quickly led me to coach Dennis Allen. To say I was excited after the interview would be a major understatement… I found my guy. And when I talk about the guy I was looking for, I was looking for a guy that could lead these men, that was passionate about the game, that was passionate about teaching, passionate about the Oakland Raiders.”
After McKenzie was finished, it was turned over to Dennis Allen at which point he gave those watching an idea of the kind of passion that had McKenzie so attracted to him as a head coach.
“This is a new day in Oakland Raider football,” said Allen. “We’re progressing forward and we’re going to set our own goals and aspirations of the things that we’re going to try to get accomplished within the organization. This organization is committed to winning.
“I remember watching the Oakland Raiders growing up back in the 70’s and 80’s and just watching what a great team they were and I just admired the way that they played the game. They played with a toughness, with physicalness, with passion for the game. They played with a respect for the game and that’s the type of team that you’re gonna see with the Oakland Raiders as we go forward.
“We’re going to do everything that we can to make you proud of the type of team that we’re going to put on the field. Because we are going to put a team out there that is going to play with passion, that is going to play with emotion, that is going to play with discipline, that is going to play the right way, with respect for the game and a respect for the people that have played the game before them. The vision for the future of the Oakland Raiders is going to be just that. It’s going to be a tough, smart, disciplined, committed football team. See, you don’t win football games in the National Football League by talent alone. There are a lot of other things that are a part of that. And those are the things that we’re going to develop and those are the things that we’re going to preach on a day to day basis to our players.”
Aggressive and disciplined were the order of the day for Allen. He made it clear that those two words would permeate throughout every aspect of this team.
“On offense we’re gonna be uptempo; we’re gonna be fast, we’re gonna be aggressive,” Allen reiterated. “We’re gonna be able to run the football and run the football solidly so we can stay ahead of the chains on first and second down. And we’re going to be explosive in the passing game. We’ve got those weapons in place to be able to do that.
“We’re going to be an aggressive attacking style defense built on stopping the run and getting after the quarterback… And finally on special teams, again, our coverage unit are going to be fast and aggressive. We’ve got some of the best specialists in the game and our returners are going to be explosive.
“It’s a new beginning for us. We’re moving forward and I’m excited about the opportunity, I’m excited about the things that Mr Davis is doing, I’m excited about the things that Reggie McKenzie is doing, and this is a team that’s gonna be committed to winning in the future.
Continued with…. Allen says Raiders “couple critical pieces” away from contending
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