The Oakland Raiders are accustomed to speed. It has been said before that Al Davis is building a track team as opposed to a football team. There is still speed in the Raiders mini-camp this year, but it’s a different kind of speed supplied by new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. The players have a deep respect for the newest addition to the Oakland Raiders coaching staff.
Take Charlie Frye for an example. Frye was the Raiders third string quarterback at the beginning of the 2009 season. It was a season that saw the decline of young quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who was eventually replaced by back-up Bruce Gradkowski. Gradkowski was injured just four games into his 1st string status, yet Russell stayed on the bench when the coaching staff decided that Charlie Frye was better suited to play quarterback for the remainder of the season.
During the season, Frye was considered to be the coach’s pet, if you will. He attended the coaching meetings and was said to have helped the staff in some game planning for the Raiders opponents. Saturday, Frye offered some insight into the difference Hue Jackson has made to the offensive mindset already, “Coach Jackson coming in here and being around Baltimore and being around Ray Lewis and a playoff team, he brings that moxie and that swagger with him…demanding…that ‘hey this is how we’re going to do things and we’re going to do them fast; we’re going to do them right.’ We got out there, and as you guys can see, it’s a very demanding up tempo practice. He keeps guys doing a lot of thinking out there right now, but once we stop thinking, we’ll be able to play a lot faster.”
There is a different hue in the skies above the Raiders practice facilities in Alameda these days. Sure it is early in the year, as Frye pointed out, while the guys are making mistakes right now, once they are able to just do stuff without thinking about things, they will be able to do them very fast…naturally fast. Frye really thinks the different approach will be helpful.
It is also helping Raiders Head Coach Tom Cable, who had the daunting task of controlling the entire offense last year; helping offensive line coach Jim Michalczik coach the line, as well as having a rookie wide receivers coach, Sanjay Lal, and trying to call all of the offensive plays. This year, Coach Cable is glad that he can sit back a little bit while Hue controls the offensive practices.
“I had a lot more notes from practice on a broad area of things,” Cable said after practice on Friday. “From what I saw on some special teams things, with the DBs, something with the linebackers. I’m able to do that part more and I think that’s something that is a strength of mine. I kind of walked off the field feeling really good about what I saw and was anxious to look at it on film and kind of crosscheck myself. It does give [me] a chance to look at a lot of things.”
Second year wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey took only took a short time off after the 2009 season. Coach Cable said, “He was one of those guys, when the season got over, he took a very short time off and then was back working. He’s with the equipment guys and the trainer people, getting the JUGS out, and ‘I want somebody to throw me the ball,’ and went right to work.”
Darrius spoke of the change that Hue has brought to the team, “[He brings] a little bit more edge. He has us being responsible for our actions on the field, we can’t mess up and that’s good for everybody because you have accountability.”
Hue Jackson has been a vocal leader on the practice field for the Raiders throughout the mini-camp period. Raiders blogger and Oakland Tribune reporter Jerry MacDonald wrote, “Jackson, who hasn’t received clearance to talk with the media as yet, is the loudest voice on the field and isn’t shy about letting players know it when they’ve either made an error or been careless with the ball.’
‘When Louis Murphy made an impressive deep catch Friday with a nice adjustment and headed for the end zone, Jackson, rather than complimenting the catch, chastised Murphy for failing to properly secure the ball as he advanced the ball.”
As Jerry points out, Jackson has not received clearance to speak to the media as of yet, but he is clearly making his presence know all over the practice. I am amongst those who cannot wait to hear what this magnificent addition to the staff has to say once he does receive that clearance.
Incoming quarterback Jason Campbell, who has had eight different offensive coordinators in the last ten years said, “I’ve done a lot of the things we’re doing in the offense, so it’s not like I’m starting over. I’m just trying to learn the different language that they use here. I think Coach Jackson is doing a good job of just giving us so many options that it will help us create an open minded offensive team.”
As of right now the players are not working towards starting positions on this team. The goal right now is to absorb as much information as possible and prove that you are willing to put in enough work to be a part of the team. Coach Jackson is a motivating force behind getting all these guys on the right page early on this season. His leadership on this team will lead to brighter days in the future for the franchise.
Perhaps Coach Cable put it best when he said, “We’ve got to pick up the pace. [Hue] and I are from the same cloth that way. We’re a little bit behind. We’re not getting all the reps in the periods so we want to kind of push that a little bit more. We’re close. That’s exactly what I wanted.”
That may be exactly what this team needs; somebody there to give them a sharp kick in the butt. Football is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. The goal at this high level is not just to do something better than somebody else, it is to do it at a higher level of technicality. For example, go back to the Louis Murphy catch…even though he made the catch, he gets yelled at for not securing the ball. There is an old adage that says you need to practice as if you are playing in a real game, so that on Sundays it is natural to do something because that is the way it was practiced.
Hue Jackson provides a new ray of light in the Oakland Raiders atmosphere. That’s why I say there is a new Hue in the oncoming Oakland sky. It is no longer gray skies ahead; with Hue Jackson there the skies are gradually becoming a beautiful shade of blue.
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