It took the Raiders just over a week to lock in a new defensive coordinator. He is former Chargers DC Gus Bradley. And whenever you have a new Defensive Coordinator, he will have the ability to build his own staff.
That doesn’t always mean a complete overhaul. For instance, Rod Marinelli. He was brought onboard last offseason to be the Raiders Defensive Line Coach and took over as interim Defensive Coordinator for the final three games of the season after the firing of Paul Guenther.
“I’m excited about [Defensive Line] coach Rod Marinelli who’s going to be a part of this staff and he was another big reason why this was so important to take a look at this opportunity,” said Bradley in his introductory video conference call. “I’ve got great respect for coach Marinelli and he’ll be a great sounding board along with guys like [Assistant Defensive Line Coach] Travis Smith in understanding some of the personnel things.”
Gruden has been bit by bit filling his staff with former assistants. Marinelli was Gruden’s Assistant Head Coach and DL coach for four seasons from 2002-05. Bradley came onboard the following season and took over as the Bucs linebackers coach for two seasons in 2007-08. Both have since had both head coaching and defensive coordinator jobs. Now they will coach together on Gruden’s staff in Las Vegas.
“Rod Marinelli and I didn’t get a chance to work together in Tampa, but I sure heard a lot about him and there’s so much respect for him and what he brings,” Bradley added. “Not only on the field, just developing coaches and developing players and their mindset. We’re going to put together a really good staff and it’s going to be a a staff that really we each can grow from each other.”
As of now, it sounds like Marinelli and Smith are the only staff members who are for sure returning. That leaves a lot of staff to be filled. Bradley is not closing the door on more of the previous Raiders defensive staff returning, but naturally he is looking to bring over some of his former assistants with the Chargers over with him.
“I felt like we had a tremendous, tremendous staff with the Chargers,” said Bradley. “At all positions, it really was. I really enjoyed it. And as many of those guys that we can bring, if there is spots that are open, that’s always something that you take a look at.”
Under Bradley the past four seasons, the Chargers were top ten in either fewest points or yards allowed. In 2018-19 they were top ten in *both* fewest points and yards allowed. So, you can understand his urge to bring as many of his staff over with him as possible.
Leave a Reply