ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter has reported that Al Saunders will indeed be the man to fill the void left at offensive coordinator now that Hue Jackson has been promoted to head coach. After an interview on Wednesday, it appeared to be in the works for Saunders to become the go to guy for Hue Jackson’s offense. The tricky part after said interview is simply ironing out the details of the contract. Or as Al Davis would say, making sure the new coach has a good health care plan, since that is required by the federal government now.
Saunders’ primary objective will be to further entrench the knowledge of Hue Jackson’s system into the Oakland Raiders offensive personnel. Saunders will not be the play caller on Sundays, but he is a guy who is at the top of Hue Jackson’s list of coaches he can trust with his players. According to quarterback Jason Campbell, the players will be able to trust Saunders as well, and in particular to get the message across whenever Hue is busy with another task associated with being the leader of the team.
Saunders is known as an upbeat, detail-oriented, players’ coach. He is a former San Diego Chargers head coach, offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and St Louis Rams, and associate head coach with the Washington Redskins when Campbell was a young NFL quarterback. For the last two years he has been an offensive consultant for the Baltimore Ravens.
Jason Campbell had this to say about the newest member of the Raiders’ 2011 staff: “He is really smart and he’s an offensive coordinator that knows the ins and outs of the game. I can remember when he was in Kansas City, before he came to Washington, and I think [they were] the number one or two offense in the league, like, every year and just the consistency of being at such a high level. I had an opportunity to be with him under two years and he is a great guy to be around. Professional. He’s a guy that is very intelligent about the game of football.”
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