Thursday, January 17, 2013
Oakland's coaching search
By Tim Kavanagh
While coaches and coordinators are being hired at a wild pace this week, the Oakland Raiders are mostly sitting on the sidelines, in spite of the fact that they need to hire a new offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. We haven't heard much of anything beyond speculation regarding candidates for those posts, so the franchise is doing a very good job preventing leaks to the media on their search. Perhaps the most intriguing of those vacancies -- for casual fans and fantasy football enthusiasts alike -- is the one at OC.
ESPN AFC West blogger Bill Williamson notes that while some teams have moved quickly to fill their OC vacancies, there are still a number of candidates with NFL experience available to the Raiders, including Pat Shurmur, Chan Gailey, Cam Cameron, Mike Mularkey, Marty Mornhinweg and Mike Tice, as well as Stanford OC Pep Hamilton. As for the supposed delay in the process, Williamson doesn't believe it's a problem:
Bill Williamson
Oakland has OC options"Yes, the process is slow, but there is no real timetable. Sure, the Oakland staff is coaching in the Senior Bowl next week, but it doesn't need an offensive coordinator in place for that game. The Raiders would get by with its current staff if need be. The Senior Bowl is traditionally a prime opportunity to interview for coaches, so perhaps [HC Dennis] Allen will find his new offensive coordinator there."
