Jon Gruden prospective Raiders staff already looking like step up from Del Rio staff

Even before the Oakland Raiders hire Jon Gruden as their head coach, Gruden has slowly been assembling a staff that should come to fruition once Gruden’s move is official.

The coaching staff that Gruden is supposedly building is the reason that this new hire won’t backfire and will automatically be better than having Jack Del Rio at the helm.

By looking at the possible coaching staff, it is easily noticeable that two proposed coordinators are making lateral coaching changes (without being fired) to team up with Gruden.

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and former Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia are expected to coach the Raiders at the same position they previously held.

Guenther has been the captain of the Bengals’ defense since 2014. During that time, his defense has ranked in the top ten twice in scoring including a No. 2 ranking and has never been below No. 16.

Bisaccia, who has been there since 2013, has helped Dan Bailey become one of the league’s most accurate kickers, has turned Chris Jones into a very good punter and brought the most out of rookie returner Ryan Switzer who returned for over 800 yards in 2017. Don’t forget Bisaccia was the one to catch the Raiders off guard with the fake punt on Sunday Night football.

Bisaccia was also part of Gruden’s Super Bowl winning staff back in Tampa Bay.

The offensive coordinator is expected to be former Rams quarterbacks coach Greg Olson. He was just coaching Jared Goff who might have made the biggest season turn around for a young quarterback we have seen in a while.

Even though Olson was not a coordinator this past season, he does have plenty of experience at coordinator including a stint with Oakland and Derek Carr from 2013-14. Gruden is expected to be calling the plays so this open position is far less important than the other two.

When Del Rio was at the helm, there was little chance to get a coordinator to make a lateral switch. Instead, Del Rio hired Ken Norton Jr., Todd Downing and Bill Musgrave. All three of them were a position coach before they were hired in Oakland.

Even John Pagano, who was technically a defensive coordinator before, was fired by the Los Angeles Chargers and wasn’t even immediately hired by the Raiders to assume the same position.

Unlike before, the Silver and Black are acquiring top coordinators to coach the team. Even if Gruden’s time off was too long and he ended being worse (or equal) than Del Rio, the rest of the coaching staff will be light years ahead of last season’s.

Gruden figures to far out coach Del Rio who couldn’t do anything on offense to save his life, and despite being a former DC himself, couldn’t help a defense that struggled throughout his tenure and didn’t hold his players and coaches accountable.

In 2018, based on the names reported so far, the coaching staff figures be full of skilled and experienced coaches. Something that Del Rio was never able to accumulate. That should excite everyone in the Raider Nation.