Head Coach
The Oakland Raiders will
hire Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as their next head
coach, according to multiple reports. McKenzie fired Hue Jackson
shortly after being named the team's first G.M. since the passing of
longtime owner Al Davis. The 2011 season was Allen's first as defensive
coordinator in Denver. Last year his defense ranked 11th in the NFL.
Allen's
NFL coaching career began with Atlanta in 2002, assisting with the
secondary. He then moved to defensive assistant/quality control, with
emphasis on the defensive line. He was hired by the Saints as assistant
defensive line coach in 2006, then moved to secondary coach in 2008.
Offensive Coordinator
Al
Saunders, who served as the Raiders' offensive coordinator last season
and is the lone member of the fired Hue Jackson's staff still under
contract, will return to the team for the 2012 season, the team
announced late Wednesday morning.
Saunders, 65, will have the nebulous title "senior offensive assistant"
as Greg Knapp was hired on Feb. 1 by new coach Dennis Allen to be his
new O.C. and playcaller.
Saunders scouted Senior Bowl Week in Mobile, Ala. for the Raiders,
before Allen was hired, and recently interviewed for Kansas City's
offensive coordinator position.
Last season, Saunders devised the weekly offensive gameplans before
Jackson would then pick and choose the plays to call during a game.
Before
coming to Oakland, Saunders spent two seasons with Baltimore as an
offensive consultant in 2009 and as senior offensive assistant in 2010.
Defensive Coordinator
The Raiders have signed 37-year-old Jason Tarver as their new
defensive coordinator. Tarver has a Bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in
biochemistry and molecular biology. He was a Phi Betta Kappa at Santa Clara andreceived the departmental prize for distinguished teaching at
UCLA twice. He spent last season at Stanford as the
Cardinal's co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach and the
previous nine years with the 49ers. With the 49ers, Tarver was as a quality control
coach from 2001 through 2003, was an assistant running backs and offensive
assistant coach in 2004 and coached the outside linebackers from 2005 through
2010. He has been credited with the development of Parys
Haralson, who had a career-high eight sacks in 2008. And in 2009, the 49ers OLBs
combined for 17.5 sacks, 15 takeaways and nine forced
fumbles. Tarver is a Northern California native who played at
Saratoga's West Valley Junior College in 1994 and 1995.
The Oakland Raiders have hired former USC wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore to the same position. Gilmore
spent just one season with the Trojans, and helped turn Robert Woods
into an All-American, and Marqise Lee into a freshman All-American. The
44-year old Gilmore played two years at the University of Wyoming and
earned second-team All-Western Athletics Conference honors as a senior. Prior
to USC, Gilmore spent six seasons as Nebraska's wide receivers coach,
and was the Huskers' recruiting coordinator his final four years in
Lincoln.
Quarterbacks
The Raiders are reportedly bringing back a familiar face to coach their quarterbacks. John
Defilippo, who was Oakland's QB coach in 2007 and 2008 and has spent
the past two seasons at San Jose State as the Spartans' quarterbacks
coach, is returning to the same position on new coach Dennis Allen's
staff. Oakland did not
have a QB coach in name last season as Al Saunders, who was the
offensive coordinator under Hue Jackson, basically fulfilled that duty.
Defilippo, who turns 34 on April 12, also worked with Daunte
Culpepper, Josh McCown, Andrew Walter and Marques Tuiasosopo in his two
years in Oakland. Now, with only Carson Palmer and Terrell Pryorunder contract, Defilippo seemingly has a more defined job description.
Linebackers and Special Teams
The Raiders
have two new additions to their coaching slate, linebackers coach
Johnny Holland and assistant special teams coach Keith Burns.
Holland joins the Raiders as a seasoned NFL veteran
-- both as a player and assistant coach. Holland played seven seasons
for the Green Bay Packers.
Following his retirement, he was honored with induction into the
Packers Hall of Fame in 2001 to commemorate his six consecutive seasons
of at least 100 tackles. Holland joined the Pack's staff under Mike
Holmgren from 1995-1997, where he saw the team clinch back-to-back NFC
Championships and secure a victory over the Patriots
in Super Bowl XXXI.
Burns returns to the Golden State after a full resume of
collegiate-level coaching experience, most recently served as the
defensive backs coach at Ole Miss. Previous to his tenure there, Burns
stood at the helm of Kansas State's secondary in 2010 and served as
defensive coordinator at Arkansas for two campaigns, helping lead the
Razorbacks to two consecutive bowl appearances. In 1998, he was among
the five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award to honor the nation's
best assistant coach.
