*Official* Raiders hire Dennis Allen as new HC! (1 Viewer)

[krsone21]

Via Twitter from Adam Schefter:

AdamSchefterAdam Schefter

Now official: Oakland Raiders are hiring former Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as head coach. Deal done.

Via Twitter from Jay Glazer:

JayGlazerJay Glazer

The Oakland Raiders have agreed to hire Dennis Allen as their new head coach. He has already informed the broncos

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

 

[LawFitz]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

 

[krsone21]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Better then the Raiders defense, lol.

 

[Autumn Wind]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Ask the Broncos offense, which was carried to the AFC West title by it.

 

[krsone21]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Ask the Broncos offense, which was carried to the AFC West title by it.

This.

 

[noneother]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Ask the Broncos offense, which was carried to the AFC West title by it.

This.

X3

 

[Autumn Wind]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Ask the Broncos offense, which was carried to the AFC West title by it.

Looked really good in the loss to NE

Oh, well then forget him then. I guess one loss is really enough to judge a guy on right?

 

[massraider]

We shall see. It's the only answer possible.

Does anyone know anything about Dennis Allen? For a while I thought this was Dennis Smith, the old Bronco safety. Allen's not a retread head coach, so we can avoid the "Haw haw, Raiders hired Mornhinweg" circle jerk, which is nice.

I am interested in what went down with Winston Moss, I wonder what went wrong.

The only thing I am mildly encouraged about is that McKenzie didn't just go to the Green Bay well, without looking around, and he's not just married to the 3-4. Allen ran a 4-3 in Denver, and the personnel now, is 4-3 personnel. If they go to a 3-4, some of these guys may not have roles. Of course, one could argue maybe a lot of these guys shouldn't have roles, with their performance last year.

I think Allen has a real good chance to look smart right off the bat. He'll let the OC run the offense, who gets Palmer a full camp, and a healthy Jacoby and DMC. Allen will tinker with the defense, and I think he improves the D just by mixing it up. The Raiders have run a basic 4-3 Cover-1, and had Bresnahan as a DC last year, who if he is lucky will never meet a Raider fan for the rest of his life. I always had a sneaking suspicion that our scheme was hanging a lot of these players out to dry. I think there's a real good chance some fresh ideas, and mixing it up a bit will lead to improvement, even without changing personnel much. I might be wrong, but Allen could enjoy a nice honeymoon without having to tear anything down.

 

[Garrett]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

If Helen of Troy was the face that launched 1,000 ships, Dennis Allen's defense was the front 7 that launched 1,000 Tim Tebow updates on ESPN.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

We shall see. It's the only answer possible.

Does anyone know anything about Dennis Allen? For a while I thought this was Dennis Smith, the old Bronco safety. Allen's not a retread head coach, so we can avoid the "Haw haw, Raiders hired Mornhinweg" circle jerk, which is nice.

I am interested in what went down with Winston Moss, I wonder what went wrong.

The only thing I am mildly encouraged about is that McKenzie didn't just go to the Green Bay well, without looking around, and he's not just married to the 3-4. Allen ran a 4-3 in Denver, and the personnel now, is 4-3 personnel. If they go to a 3-4, some of these guys may not have roles. Of course, one could argue maybe a lot of these guys shouldn't have roles, with their performance last year.

I think Allen has a real good chance to look smart right off the bat. He'll let the OC run the offense, who gets Palmer a full camp, and a healthy Jacoby and DMC. Allen will tinker with the defense, and I think he improves the D just by mixing it up. The Raiders have run a basic 4-3 Cover-1, and had Bresnahan as a DC last year, who if he is lucky will never meet a Raider fan for the rest of his life. I always had a sneaking suspicion that our scheme was hanging a lot of these players out to dry. I think there's a real good chance some fresh ideas, and mixing it up a bit will lead to improvement, even without changing personnel much. I might be wrong, but Allen could enjoy a nice honeymoon without having to tear anything down.

I heard several reports that Moss had a lousy interview. Corkran neither confirmed or denied, but it's telling he didn't immediately shoot down the rumor. I like the fact that Allen is primarily 4-3, but not married to it and can switch back to a 3-4 scheme if he has the personnel. There will be a huge transition on defense in any event. I think we'll see a number of new players on defense via trade, free agency or draft. The defense is very talented but paper thin, and some promising rookies need to step next OTA's. I don't expect we are going to turn loose players like Sterling Moore anymore, just to retain the scholarship players.

Allen has a rep as a strict disciplinarian. Good. Just what is needed after some measured progress by Hue and then it seemed that the wheels came off the discipline bus late last year. Looks likely we can still keep Saunders to maintain the offense that was working and let Allen concentrate on fixing the D.

I'm withholding judgment and restraining optimism until we see what new pieces we get and allow the team to gel. But I think the honeymoon period for Allen will be shorter than it was for Hue.

 

[moleculo]

I liked DA as a coordinator and I'm pretty pissed that he's gone. Denver will now be on the 7th DC in 7 years. Champ Bailey hasn't had a DC for more than one year since 2006. I liked DA as a hire because I assumed that no one would hire a DC after only one year...he had a chance to stick around for a little bit. Guess I was wrong about that.

one year as a coordinator, and now he's HC material...I don't get it.

 

[moleculo]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

If Helen of Troy was the face that launched 1,000 ships, Dennis Allen's defense was the front 7 that launched 1,000 Tim Tebow updates on ESPN.

the legend of the mighty 2011 Bronco D grows bigger every day.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

I liked DA as a coordinator and I'm pretty pissed that he's gone. Denver will now be on the 7th DC in 7 years. Champ Bailey hasn't had a DC for more than one year since 2006. I liked DA as a hire because I assumed that no one would hire a DC after only one year...he had a chance to stick around for a little bit. Guess I was wrong about that.one year as a coordinator, and now he's HC material...I don't get it.

I agree. It's puzzling that he's HC material after never having been a HC at any level. I think it's all supply and demand. A number of vacancies and a lot of retread coaches out there looking to jump back in and the talent pool is very shallow.

 

[Truman]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Ask the Broncos offense, which was carried to the AFC West title by it.

This.

X3

WTF

 

[Truman]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

If Helen of Troy was the face that launched 1,000 ships, Dennis Allen's defense was the front 7 that launched 1,000 Tim Tebow updates on ESPN.

the legend of the mighty 2011 Bronco D grows bigger every day.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I personally like the Dennis Allen hire. Raiders need to fix that defense.

How was the Broncos defense?

Better then the Raiders defense, lol.

A little better. Denver was ranked 24th overall, Oakland 29th. Baby steps.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

this guy gets 2 years tops.

and LOL at Mark Davis haircut or shall I say Prince valiant

 

[AmosMoses]

I heard that the 2011 Broncos defense actually built the Pyramids

 

[massraider]

this guy gets 2 years tops.

Maybe. Big Dennis Allen expert, are ya?

 

[Jason Wood]

As massraider said, we won't know until we know. While that's not as exciting as emphatically proclaiming what a great/awful hire this was, that's the reality. I see a lot of people (understandably) look at how a coordinators side of the ball ranked as though it should be indicative of whether they'll have success as a head coach. It doesn't. Coordinators rarely get hired if their side of the ball is awful, but there have been plenty of cases where coordinators were AWESOME and yet couldn't hack the HC position, and also plenty of great head coaches that had limited experience at the coordinator level and/or inconsistent statistical results. Being a head coach is about organization, focus, management abilities, personality massaging, networking (gotta have a great staff), leaderingship, etc...as much as it's about Xs and Os.

Now I don't profess to know much about Dennis Allen, but it strikes me as the kind of hire that COULD be terrific. He's young, which I think is a plus. As massraider noted, he wasn't a McKenzie guy per se, so he likely had to be more impressive than the other candidates. I always presume that tie goes to the colleague...meaning that if Allen was roughly on par with the likes of Moss or another McKenzie contact, they would defer for the guy they know. I also like that Allen seems to have been coveted by multiple organizations and coaching trees.

Doesn't mean it'll be a hit, but I think this is a much more inspiring hire than Jacksonville with Mularkey or the Bucs with...all those also rans they seem to be choosing between.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

this guy gets 2 years tops.

Maybe. Big Dennis Allen expert, are ya?

Not at all, just going on track record.I thought Cable really turned em around but Al forced him out, then Hue only gets 1 season? Im sure if AD was alive he would of gotten more time. Unfortunately for Hue. As a bolt fan Im sure Im stuck with Norv for at least 1 more year.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

A lot of media chatter and/or smokescreens from Broncos sad to see Allen go to their division rivals seems to point to this hire being another good one. So the media thinks Mark Davis is 2 for 2 in hiring McKenzie and Allen. But I remember the media was hyping Hue Jackson as the next great ascending coach. And where's Hue interviewing for OC jobs now? It's pathetic that Schotteneimer gets an OC job before Hue. But maybe it's telling of what real NFL front offices think of Hue.

It's encouraging that McKenzie was given free reign over who his hand picked guy was. We all figured it would be someone from the Packer organization and Winston Moss seemed like the sure candidate. On the one hand, you can spin that as he found his guy and didn't host a bunch of token interviews only to stick with his buddy. But on the other hand, McKenzie's not working with anyone he had planned on when he took on the job. Is this a fly by the seat of your pants move, or a risk/reward move to establish a new identity?

I think Mark Davis is going to give McKenzie a lot of time and a long leash to get things done. But Allen will have a shorter leash. Allen's got a lot to prove.

 

[Jason Wood]

These young head coaches rarely work out well. This guy will be anther Raheem Morris or Josh McDaniels.

Allen is 39 years old, which is about as close to a perfect age as you could ask if you're looking at a profile of eventual Super Bowl champion coaches.Hank Stram -- 36 years old

Don Shula -- 33 years old

Chuck Noll -- 37 years old

John Madden -- 33 years old

Tom Flores -- 42 years old

Joe Gibbs -- 41 years old

Mike Ditka -- 43 years old

Bill Parcells -- 42 years old

Mike Holmgren -- 44 years old

Mike Shanahan -- 43 years old (when hired by Denver)

Brian Billick -- 45 years old

Jon Gruden -- 39 years old (when hired by Bucs, he was 35 when Oakland hired him)

Bill Cowher -- 35 years old

Mike Tomlin -- 35 years old

Sean Payton -- 43 years old

Mike McCarthy -- 43 years old

That's a BIG chunk of Super Bowl champion coaches who were hired 45 years or younger, many in their 30s. What's far less common are retreads in their late 40s or older who go on to the ultimate success.

 

[JamesTheScot]

As massraider said, we won't know until we know. While that's not as exciting as emphatically proclaiming what a great/awful hire this was, that's the reality. I see a lot of people (understandably) look at how a coordinators side of the ball ranked as though it should be indicative of whether they'll have success as a head coach. It doesn't. Coordinators rarely get hired if their side of the ball is awful, but there have been plenty of cases where coordinators were AWESOME and yet couldn't hack the HC position, and also plenty of great head coaches that had limited experience at the coordinator level and/or inconsistent statistical results. Being a head coach is about organization, focus, management abilities, personality massaging, networking (gotta have a great staff), leaderingship, etc...as much as it's about Xs and Os.

It's also true that people jump to the conclusion that hiring a former coordinator as a HC means they will have a good offense or defense. Brian Billick in Baltimore is contrary proof.Nor does being a good DC even guarantee that you can do a good job picking a DC when you make HC. Think Wade Phillips hiring Brian Stewart in Dallas.

And it was a move from HC to HC, but what did people think Indy would look like when Dungy was hired there after his stint in Tampa Bay?

There's nothing for sure in this league.

 

[jetpack]

I liked DA as a coordinator and I'm pretty pissed that he's gone. Denver will now be on the 7th DC in 7 years. Champ Bailey hasn't had a DC for more than one year since 2006. I liked DA as a hire because I assumed that no one would hire a DC after only one year...he had a chance to stick around for a little bit. Guess I was wrong about that.one year as a coordinator, and now he's HC material...I don't get it.

I agree. It's puzzling that he's HC material after never having been a HC at any level. I think it's all supply and demand. A number of vacancies and a lot of retread coaches out there looking to jump back in and the talent pool is very shallow.

Tomlin was the MIN DC for a year before moving to PIT. I'm thinking it's more about seeing a leader that just needs the opportunity.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

I like some of the feedback from some of Allen's former players in Denver. They are outspoken in support of Allen and think it'll really benefit the Raiders.Said Champ Bailey:

"He knew how to get us ready." Said Bailey. "I give him a lot of credit for the success we had this year... He's one of the most intense coaches I've had. It was a pleasure working with him. You knew what he was going to bring you every day... I know what type of team he's going to have. Very intense, hard-nosed, tough. That's the way he is. That's what I expect his team to be."

Said Von Miller:

"First and foremost, they're getting a guy that's going to come in right away, and he's going to get it done," Miller said. "That's what he did for us. He came in, he laid out a plan for us, he told us, 'This is how we're going to do it, and this will work,' and that's what happened. We improved our defense an incredible amount. It was a night and day team from a year before... I think he'll do the same thing with the Oakland Raiders."

Said his former HC Sean Peyton (before leaving for Denver):

"It's a small league, and there aren't many secrets." said Payton. "His reputation has grown, and the word has gotten around. You can see it on film. He's extremely talented, and another thing about him, he's an extremely hard-working guy. He's a guy that's gonna have more of these opportunities down the line... He's done a very good job. He's extremely well thought of within this building."

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

I liked DA as a coordinator and I'm pretty pissed that he's gone. Denver will now be on the 7th DC in 7 years. Champ Bailey hasn't had a DC for more than one year since 2006. I liked DA as a hire because I assumed that no one would hire a DC after only one year...he had a chance to stick around for a little bit. Guess I was wrong about that.one year as a coordinator, and now he's HC material...I don't get it.

I agree. It's puzzling that he's HC material after never having been a HC at any level. I think it's all supply and demand. A number of vacancies and a lot of retread coaches out there looking to jump back in and the talent pool is very shallow.

Tomlin was the MIN DC for a year before moving to PIT. I'm thinking it's more about seeing a leader that just needs the opportunity.

What I recall is McKenzie talking about the priority being finding a motivator of men above all else. In NO in 2009 the Saints under Allen's DB asst coach tutelage put up 26 INTs (though there was that Sharper effect) and many talked about what a loss it was when he was hired away.Also supposedly he was being looked at by St Louis before Fisher came into focus, so it wasn't just Oakland that was considering him.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.

This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

 

[massraider]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

There's so much dumb here, I can't even attempt a response.

 

[One]

Pat Kirwan was talking about Dennis Allen on his Sirius Radio Show today.

Says his friend who worked with Allen in Atlanta said Allen was an up and coming coaching star way back then.

Kirwan also speculates Allen may get the 49ers secondary coach, Ed Donatell

 

[raidergil]

Also supposedly he was being looked at by St Louis before Fisher came into focus, so it wasn't just Oakland that was considering him.

Adam Schefter said Rams were very impressed by Allen, but had already gone down the path toward Fisher.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

There's so much dumb here, I can't even attempt a response.

Well try...Mass, do you think it was the right move to fire Hue? If so, why? He was doing an outstanding job the first half of the season IMO. I think most NFL fans would look at this feel like it is another in a long line of bad decisions and moves they have made in the last 8-10 years. I'm always open to ripping on my team, the Dolphins...or the Bucs, but you always get very touchy when I post up on Oakland. I wish the emotion could be taken out of it because I really enjoy reading your posts Mass, thanks.

 

[krsone21]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

There's so much dumb here, I can't even attempt a response.

Well try...Mass, do you think it was the right move to fire Hue? If so, why? He was doing an outstanding job the first half of the season IMO. I think most NFL fans would look at this feel like it is another in a long line of bad decisions and moves they have made in the last 8-10 years. I'm always open to ripping on my team, the Dolphins...or the Bucs, but you always get very touchy when I post up on Oakland. I wish the emotion could be taken out of it because I really enjoy reading your posts Mass, thanks.

Getting rid of Hue was the right move for the Raiders. Near the end of the season Hue was blaming everyone under the sun for not making the playoffs but himself. If Hue was so damn good how come he hasn't found a OC job right away or even a sniff as a possible HC at other opening spots in the NFL. Hue was letting the power go to his head and in the end McKenzie made the right decision. It was better for McKenzie to get "his guy" now, instead of waisting another year and realizing Hue wasn't "his guy".

 

[Autumn Wind]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

There's so much dumb here, I can't even attempt a response.

Well try...Mass, do you think it was the right move to fire Hue? If so, why? He was doing an outstanding job the first half of the season IMO. I think most NFL fans would look at this feel like it is another in a long line of bad decisions and moves they have made in the last 8-10 years. I'm always open to ripping on my team, the Dolphins...or the Bucs, but you always get very touchy when I post up on Oakland. I wish the emotion could be taken out of it because I really enjoy reading your posts Mass, thanks.

Look at the big picture. Sure, Hue vastly improved Oakland's offense, so that's a plus. But the dude was becoming mad with power, and clearly overstepped his bounds multiple times after Al died.The one thing the Raiders need right now more than anything else is stability and order. There is no way they could get that with Hue Jackson on staff, as he had already declared his intentions to assume even more control. W-L record aside, it was absolutely essenital for Reggie McKenzie to remove a potential troublemaker if he has any chance to right the ship.

 

[FavreCo]

this guy gets 2 years tops.

Maybe. Big Dennis Allen expert, are ya?

Someone needs to check Al's will to see what it says about HC retention times. Pretty sure it's less than 2 years.

 

[az_prof]

This is not good. You hire a head coach from a team in your own division. Something about the guy can't be right. I couldn't coach for Fox and then take a HC position inside the same division, they both can't be successful so you are going from friend to foe.This will not be good...2 seasons tops, maybe 1. Still trying to figure out how Hue Jackson got canned so fast. Oakland not giving him a full off season with Carson Palmer was just downright stupid. Remember Hue going to one knee after the Oak/Hou game? C'mon now, that was just terrible and another reason why the Raiders will never get back to where they once were doing it this way. You cannot burn thru head coaches every 12-18 months and expect success.

There's so much dumb here, I can't even attempt a response.

Well try...Mass, do you think it was the right move to fire Hue? If so, why? He was doing an outstanding job the first half of the season IMO. I think most NFL fans would look at this feel like it is another in a long line of bad decisions and moves they have made in the last 8-10 years. I'm always open to ripping on my team, the Dolphins...or the Bucs, but you always get very touchy when I post up on Oakland. I wish the emotion could be taken out of it because I really enjoy reading your posts Mass, thanks.

I don't know if Allen is a good hire or not--too little track record to judge. But I do believe that firing Hue was the right move. He had a talented team, in a weak division, and they just collapsed down the stretch. The team either gave up on Hue or else he was just not doing a good enough job to get his team ready. Leading the league in penalties is another reason: that's just unacceptable and I don't think he did enough to change that culture. Finally, you need a HC who knows what being a HC is and it looks from the outside like Hue would butt heads with the GM. That's bad for the team. Everyone needs to know their roles. He may turn out to be a good HC in the future, but I think he needs some time to mature and reflect on why he failed.