Gruden not afraid to get too close
Despite 2-10 record, Oakland coach still encouraging players, having fun
ALAMEDA >> When the Raiders close the book on a forgettable 2018 season, they’ll have done two things that late owner Al Davis never believed were necessary.
The first is fostering an environment conducive to team chemistry, and the second is establishing a chain of command. Jon Gruden is responsible for both, and it has nothing to do with his self-characterization this week that “I’m a grouchy son of a bitch.”
Grouchy Gruden is the guy with the facial ticks interspersed with looks of disgust and distain on Sundays, moments that are solid gold for cameramen who are zeroed in on the sideline.
Gruden’s in-week demeanor, by contrast, is pretty much the same as it’s always been even as the Raiders begin the final quarter of the season Sunday at the Coliseum against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 2-10 record.
As the Raiders were doing their pre-practice stretching Friday before practice, Gruden went through his usual routine. He walked among the rows of players, checking in with a handful of them individually. In almost every instance, the player is left with a smile and a chuckle as Gruden moves to his next target.
Sometimes it’s small talk about something off the field, but it always comes back to football. A reminder, perhaps, of something that showed up on film and needs to be corrected.
“Coach Gruden is a unique person. He’s really a funny dude,” running back Jalen Richard said. “He’ll talk about something you did in practice yesterday and say, `Man, get your (stuff) together.’ He’ll mess with you. That’s why you see us laughing. He’ll have those little conversations to make sure everybody is straight.
“That’s what a leader is supposed to do — to let you know he’s not worried. He’s still having fun, he’s still enjoying it, even though we’re not where we want to be. If he’s doing that, then we should still be working and having fun too.”
Defensive lineman Frostee Rucker said Gruden’s pre-practice ritual is about “checking in, reconfirming. Reiterating things. We’re still here. We’re still battling. Let’s have some juice today. I’ve been on teams where the coach doesn’t fraternize with the guys or talk to `em at all. Gruden’s thing is to make sure he’s connecting.”
Quarterback Derek Carr, whose enthusiasm knows no bounds, conceded he has felt dark clouds hovering in past seasons.
“I’ve seen times early in my career when I’m like, `Why is everybody so sad?,’” Carr said. “We are playing in the NFL.”
While the Carr-Gruden relationship has been psychoanalyzed through the wonders of game-day video, Carr said he finds their daily interactions enjoyable. Raiders defensive lineman Frostee Rucker says he and his teammates are “still here” and “still battling.”
“His voice, his jokes, his love for football, it never gets old,” Carr said. “At the same time, he gets his point across. He has not changed since I met him at the (Gruden) quarterback camp. He hasn’t changed since April. And he hasn’t changed since the season hasn’t gone how he wanted.”
Outside the team facility, Gruden’s return has been mocked and panned. It goes with the territory for a coach who received a long-term contract after nine years in the broadcast booth. It will likely continue throughout the offseason and into training camp — all the way up to the point where the Raiders look like a team capable of being 10-2 rather than 2-10.
But within the walls of Harbor Bay Parkway, which has seen many a season ridden off the rails with double-figure losses, there’s a much different feel. Much different than last year’s 6-10 face-plant, coming as it did after a 12-4 season.
Coach Jack Del Rio never envisioned being fired, but he knew owner Mark Davis
was going to insist on some changes in his coaching staff. The roster and the staff seemed to look askance at each other from the moment the Raiders got worked over by Washington in Week 3.
At this point, a 2-10 team would normally find players in a self-preservation mode, avoiding eye contact and simply hoping to get through the final four weeks before the nightmare is over.
The Raiders have 16 players on injured reserve, tying Washington (and Gruden’s head coach brother Jay) for the most in the NFL. Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper were traded for draft picks. There have been some ugly losses, none more so than a 34-3 humiliation against the 49ers.
If there was a time for Gruden to erupt, that was it. It never happened.
“I mean, I want to have fun doing this,” Gruden said. “This is a great time, I think. The Raiders, we’re trying to bring the right kind of people that can build a championship team again. That includes the rookies. That includes the veterans. There’s a good camaraderie, a good morale here.”
Camaraderie and morale were always low on the list of Davis, the man who hired Gruden to be a head coach for the first time in 1998. In one of the fascinating post press-conference scrums after the hiring of yet another new coach, Davis told reporters he didn’t believe in locker room chemistry.
Davis reasoned that chemistry was something that was talked about when a team wins, and that it really played no role in success or failure. You win, people say you have it. Lose, and you don’t.
The other thing Davis said publicly was he didn’t believe in a chain of command, and he was fine with everyone being a little uncomfortable about the process and their role in it.
Chain of command for the Raiders became crystal clear the moment Mark Davis convinced Gruden to return.
“There’s a certainty that he’s not going anywhere,” Rucker said. “That’s one thing we know. So you have to trust the process, and these guys are thinking they hope to be here when it gets turned around. And it will be turned around.”
When and if that occurs is when we’ll know if 2018 meant anything at all beyond another lost season.
• Guard Kelechi Osemele (toe), running back Doug Martin (knee) and wide receiver Seth Roberts (concussion protocol) remained questionable to face the Pittsburgh Steelers.