Jon Gruden is wasting no time getting the band back together although he still maintains he’s hoping the Raiders offer him the job
We know potential Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s reached out to John Morton to become offensive coordinator while Rich Gannon as quarterbacks coach and Bill Callahan as offensive line coach can’t be too far behind.
Marc Trestman getting out of the deep freeze may be in the works and “Chucky” may even be scouring the planet to dig up Chuck Bresnahan. I think it’s safe to say David Shaw has bigger things in mind.
The real interesting one is Callahan, maybe the best offensive line coach in the league, but with the obvious pink elephant hovering over him and his history with the Raiders. Callahan’s tenure with the Raiders is one of the strangest we’ve ever seen. The Raider offense was smoking out of the gate showing no effects of Gruden’s departure. They hit a few bumps in the middle of the season but finished strong to get the top seed in the AFC while Gannon won the MVP. They went on to win their two playoff games with relative ease
Then came the Super Bowl nightmare for all of Raider Nation but especially for Callahan. Getting blown out even in a Super Bowl is one thing but getting your competence and credibility questioned is another. Without rehashing too much the Buccaneers knew the Raider signals and were calling out the plays as they were happening. The juggernaut offense couldn’t do anything. It’s baffling until today that much of the same verbiage from the prior year was being used playing against their old head coach. The idea that Callahan somehow sabotaged the game I find to be ridiculous.
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Callahan went 4-12 the following year with an injured Gannon and was promptly fired after the season. He went on to coach Nebraska for four pretty mediocre years amassing a 27-22 record and then got back to doing what he does best which is coaching the offensive line in the NFL.
Although it may annoy one particular Raider legend, hiring Callahan would be a no-brainer and he’s got a lot to work with on a talented Raider offensive line that did not play particularly well this season. The NFL moves at a rapid pace and the 2002 Super Bowl is ancient history.