Raiders still deciding whether they will hire quarterback coach

Jon Gruden is actively still constructing his coaching staff in Oakland. That process began before he even officially accepted the job a little over a week ago. At the time of his introductory press conference he made official all three of his coordinators.

Among those coordinator is former Rams QB coach Greg Olson, who, as it happens, was the offensive coordinator in Oakland during Derek Carr’s rookie season.

In attendance at that press conference was former Raiders QB Rich Gannon who, at the time, was the leading candidate to get the QB coach position. He ultimately announced he would not be taking the job. The question was, first if the team had ever put up a serious offer to him, and second if, now that he’s not taking it, if Gruden would be hiring anyone at all.

“Kind of still in discussion right now to be honest with you,” Greg Olson said Wednesday over conference call of whether the team would be hiring a QB coach. “We haven’t finalized that. We’ll continue to talk about that next week or so, as to how we’re going to handle that.”

Since Gannon’s announcement he wasn’t taking the job, Jeff Garcia has said he reached out to Gruden expressing his interest in the job. But, again, you have Gruden, who is all about the quarterback. His passion for the position borders on obsession and even had a show on ESPN called Gruden’s QB Camp.

“He’s going to be coached by a head coach that’s going to be the play caller,” Olson said of Gruden. “He’s completely hands on with the quarterback position, and that’s the first time Derek will have, first time he’s going to have an offensive head coach that has a quarterback background and will be hands on with him on a day-to-day basis.”

Then you have Olson who was Gruden’s QB coach in Tampa in 2008; one of six years of NFL QB coaching experience for him. The question the Raiders are asking themselves is does Derek Carr really need another QB coach in the room? Not sure they do. Though this seems like the perfect situation for a former longtime NFL QB looking to cut his teeth as a coach.