Al Saunders will stay on Oakland Raiders coaching staff

[R8RMR]

The Raiders retained the services of veteran assistant coach Al Saunders on Wednesday, giving themselves the chance for continuity on offense.

Saunders, who joined the Raiders as offensive coordinator last season under Hue Jackson, will serve as senior offensive assistant, providing a sounding board for offensive coordinator Greg Knapp as the club puts together an approach built around quarterback Carson Palmer.

Sources also said the Raiders had hired John DeFilippo, their quarterbacks coach under Knapp and head coaches Lane Kiffin and Tom Cable in 2007 and 2008. DeFilippo was the quarterbacks coach for San Jose State in 2010 and 2011 after serving a season as an assistant quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets in 2009.

Saunders, 65, had a year on his contract remaining but interviewed for offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, a job that went to Brian Daboll.

Knapp's background has its roots in a West Coast type offensive system that utilizes quarterback rollouts and bootlegs and a predominantly zone blocking style of offense.

Saunders' coaching tree, which dates back to Don Coryell and the San Diego Chargers, stressed more of a downfield type of passing attack. With Palmer being more suited for dropback passing than throwing on the move, Saunders can be of assistance in blending the two systems.


Al Saunders will stay on Oakland Raiders coaching staff - ContraCostaTimes.com

[psj3809]

Glad to see this, think its sensible to keep him

[SuperRaider]

why

[psj3809]

why

Why ?  Well in my view he already knows our team, worked with Palmer i'm sure extensively when he came over last year, most sites i've seen said for continuity its great if Saunders stays on and i agree.  To be fair we dont know how much he did for the offense last year or if it was mostly Hue with a bit of input from Saunders (despite his title)

I dont think its a bad move to keep Saunders in his role, hes highly thought of.

Now to turn it around, why do you think its a bad move to keep him then ?  The problem last year was the defense/injuries not the offense, Saunders didnt do a dire job

[SuperRaider]

Heard the saying; too many cooks in the kitchen

[Bakuron]

It's certainly unusual. I'm not against it primarily because I believe Saunders is better than Knapp, and we really did need to broaden our coaching staff generally. There are some possible negatives but right now it's a positive that I'm willing to take.

[Ottoman Empire]

It's definately unusual yeah. I'm in approval of this, based on the hope that Saunders and Knapp can put their heads together and come up with a Hybrid west coast/deep game offense that can utilise the skills of Palmer and our recievers. Or, produce an offense that is good at 'going over the wall' as Al termed it. In much the same way the Pack did with Brett Favre.

[Bakuron]

To some degree a 'hybrid west coast' is exactly what 2012 NFL Offense is all about. Brees, Brady and Rodgers run 'precision offenses' and break records weekly with a heavy dose of short mixed in with devastating long passing. Whether Knapp/Saunders/Palmer are the guys to recreate that at Oakland or not remains to be seen.