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Raiders hire Art Shell as new head coach (1 Viewer)

Shell agrees to terms to coach Raiders

Steve Corkran

2/10/2006

The Raiders agreed to a contract with Art Shell to be the successor to coach Norv Turner, a person in the Raiders front office and a person close to Shell confirmed Friday night.

A news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday to introduce Shell as the team's 15th coach. It will be his second go-round with the Raiders.

Shell returned to Alameda on Friday for his second interview in six days with Raiders managing general partner Al Davis regarding the team's coaching vacancy. They reached agreement on a contract about eight hours later.

Shell and the Raiders discussed the parameters of a deal, including years, financial terms and his level of control over on- and off-field decisions. They hammered out the details of a deal that ended the 38-day search.

Shell, 59, was accompanied by representative Danny More on a trip to the team's training facility in Alameda. Both men arrived after early morning flights from Florida on the heels of the Raiders being spurned by Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and University of Louisville coach Bobby Petrino within the past 48 hours.

Shell carved out a Pro Football Hall of Fame career at his left offensive tackle position for the Raiders from 1968-92. Upon his retirement, he joined Oakland's coaching staff as an assistant. He replaced Mike Shanahan as coach four games into the 1989 season and remained in that capacity through the 1994 season.

He first met with Davis on Feb. 3. The talks continued through that weekend in Detroit, where Shell was told that he would hear back at a later date. That call came Friday night when the Raiders told Shell that they wanted to proceed with the possibility of his succeeding Turner, who was fired Jan. 3.

Shell guided the Raiders to three playoff appearances in his five-plus seasons. He was fired after the 1994 campaign and has not received another head coaching offer since.

The Raiders are in the midst of three straight losing seasons. They last made the playoffs in 2002. They won 13 games overall the past three seasons. Shell needed only 19 games to reach 13 victories.

The Raiders are the last of the 10 teams who changed coaches after last season to name a replacement.

Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, former St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz took jobs elsewhere after interviewing with the Raiders.

Whisenhunt and Petrino decided to stay put after being contacted by the Raiders.

For years, players have praised Shell's coaching style and lobbied for his return. They cited his strong relationship with Davis and his history as a player in the organization as reasons for his success where others have failed.

http://www.contracostatimes.com

 
I can't seem to remember what philosophy he used when he coached. Was he a pass-first or run-first coach? How does this affect Moss? Jordan?

 
Shell's coaching career:

Code:
+--------------+----------+           | Reg. Season  | Playoffs |+----------+--------------+----------+| Year  TM |   W   L   T  |   W   L  |+----------+--------------+----------+| 1989 rai |   7   5   0  |   0   0  || 1990 rai |  12   4   0  |   1   1  || 1991 rai |   9   7   0  |   0   1  || 1992 rai |   7   9   0  |   0   0  || 1993 rai |  10   6   0  |   1   1  || 1994 rai |   9   7   0  |   0   0  |+----------+--------------+----------+| TOTALS   |  54  38   0  |   2   3  |+----------+--------------+----------+
 
They never shoulda canned Shell in the first place ... he was a pretty good head coach ...
:goodposting: As a big Raiders fan who's old enough to remember his tenure, he did a pretty good job. As an outsider, the only thing that really pissed some fans off about Shell was that he almost never seemed to get emotional enough. He seems to have a pretty steady temperament which I prefer. But others saw it as allowing his players to take advantage of his good nature. In any case, I think he is a players coach and we could do a whole lot worse. Not my ideal hire but I'll welcome the big guy back for another year or so. I was really hoping Al would just say, #### it!, I'll coach the team but I guess that only happens behind closed doors.
 
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Ya, but he's been away for YEARS. He wasn't THAT good of a head coach either.

Every time I think of Art Shell standing on the sidelines, I think of a clueless deer in headlights.

I was gonna say one step forward, three steps back. But I simply think they've been taking steps back the past few years. They're a rudderless ship.

 
They never shoulda canned Shell in the first place ... he was a pretty good head coach ...
:goodposting: As a big Raiders fan who's old enough to remember his tenure, he did a pretty good job. As an outsider, the only thing that really pissed some fans off about Shell was that he almost never seemed to get emotional enough. He seems to have a pretty steady temperament which I prefer. But others saw it as allowing his players to take advantage of his good nature. In any case, I think he is a players coach and we could do a whole lot worse. Not my ideal hire but I'll welcome the big guy back for another year or so. I was really hoping Al would just say, #### it!, I'll coach the team but I guess that only happens behind closed doors.
I suspect that shell is more of a short timer than most coaches, but then again the Raiders burn through coaches pretty fast anyway.
 
Ya, but he's been away for YEARS.  He wasn't THAT good of a head coach either.

Every time I think of Art Shell standing on the sidelines, I think of a clueless deer in headlights.

I was gonna say one step forward, three steps back.  But I simply think they've been taking steps back the past few years.  They're a rudderless ship.
Grid,It pains me to say that I couldn't agree more with you. Shell had that clueless - Bambi thing - completely going on in his last two seasons. On top of that, it appeared that he didn't have the gumption to light into his players to motivate them. These are huge concerns of mine. But, I still think he has quite a bit to work with here. And if he has learned how to surround himself with the right people who will be able to step up and provide the types of things that he knows he cannot do, then he may be able to make it work.

 
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the greatness of the raiders is in the past. i don't have exact numbers in front of me but they won over 70% of their games in the 1970's. a lower % in the 80's...lower yet in the 90's...even lower yet so far in the 00's

see a pattern? al davis doesn't know what the heck he's doing. i realize the raiders were just in the super bowl a few years ago but i agree with the rudderless ship comment above

 
No one answered the almighty question, run first or pass first? Any old Raider fans remember his offensive philosphy (or lack thereof)?
he had jay schroeder at QB and (at various times) marcus allen and bo jackson in the backfield. what do you think he preferred to do?
 
Thanks for the answer smartazz.
I don't think it's smart ### at all. It depends on the talent on the team. With Moss and Jordan on board, it's impossible to determine how he's going to lean this team but I hope it's relatively 50-50 so that opposing defenses are kept honest.
 
So he ran the ball with Marcus and Bo. Understood. Did he emphasize a deep passing attack, was it more like a west coast offense, were his TE's utilized frequently, a lot of dump-offs to the RB's......

Simply looking for more detail from somebody who may have seen his games.

 
he is far from a wco guy. if you want insight for the 2006 raiders, look to the coordinators. i do not think shell has his own defined system like we are accustomed to nowadays.

 
he is far from a wco guy. if you want insight for the 2006 raiders, look to the coordinators. i do not think shell has his own defined system like we are accustomed to nowadays.
In other words, this team is still going to suck and Shell will be fires in 2008.There's a reason the vacancy lasted this long, and that's because the team is $30M over the cap with an Owner that controls everything.

 
So he ran the ball with Marcus and Bo. Understood. Did he emphasize a deep passing attack, was it more like a west coast offense, were his TE's utilized frequently, a lot of dump-offs to the RB's......

Simply looking for more detail from somebody who may have seen his games.
I remember Schroeder's Raiders. No ball control to that offense. He liked to fling it down the field. If they take sort of philosophy, anyone else think they might hold onto Collins?
 
Thanks for the answer smartazz.
I don't think it's smart ### at all. It depends on the talent on the team. With Moss and Jordan on board, it's impossible to determine how he's going to lean this team but I hope it's relatively 50-50 so that opposing defenses are kept honest.
exactly. with the talent on the team in his previous tenure it only made sense to run the ball. they didn't throw the ball short much (except to marcus or bo) because they also had willie gault and mervin hernandez, and some other speedsters that helped stretch the field verticallyi read in the latest sporting news that al davis though randy moss would run more intermediate patterns this season in hopes of cashing on on the bigger plays when he does go deep...instead of going deep every other play

 
Shell never had a 300-carry back; he had just one 200-carry back. He never had a 1000-yard back. So his history is RBBC (with some dang good backs; Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Bo Jackson, Roger Craig, though some of those were past their primes).

His defenses were better than his offenses. The one characteristic his offenses had was a high yards per passing attempt; almost always in the top 10 in the league, despite attempts being in the bottom half. That suggests there will be some "you go long" plays for Randy Moss and Jerry Porter, and they may want to keep Kerry Collins, who at least can throw it a long way.

I think the idea that he's not a good coach is unfounded. He has a good win/loss record, and the coach who took over for him did a poorer job, and it's not like he had great talent to work with; his 1994 roster included Jeff Hostetler, Harvey Williams, Ragib Ismail, and Andrew Glover; the only significant offensive player was Tim Brown. He managed 9-7 with that lineup, followed up by 8-8 and 7-9 with Mike White.

 
Yearly Rankings under Shell . . .

Total Points: 18, 13, 15, 23, 14, 19

Total Yards: 18, 21, 23, 20, 12, 17

Rushing Yards: 9, 9, 15, 11, 26, 21

Passing Yards: 23, 25, 26, 18, 19, 23

Highest Ranked at Each Position Each Year . . .

QB: 27, 12, 16, 23, 3, 10

RB: 21, 13, 44, 32, 44, 9

WR: 12, 22, 41, 20, 6, 5

TE: 7, 12, 2, 11, 14, 17

 
Shell never had a 300-carry back; he had just one 200-carry back. He never had a 1000-yard back. So his history is RBBC (with some dang good backs; Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Bo Jackson, Roger Craig, though some of those were past their primes).

His defenses were better than his offenses. The one characteristic his offenses had was a high yards per passing attempt; almost always in the top 10 in the league, despite attempts being in the bottom half. That suggests there will be some "you go long" plays for Randy Moss and Jerry Porter, and they may want to keep Kerry Collins, who at least can throw it a long way.

I think the idea that he's not a good coach is unfounded. He has a good win/loss record, and the coach who took over for him did a poorer job, and it's not like he had great talent to work with; his 1994 roster included Jeff Hostetler, Harvey Williams, Ragib Ismail, and Andrew Glover; the only significant offensive player was Tim Brown. He managed 9-7 with that lineup, followed up by 8-8 and 7-9 with Mike White.
Very :goodposting:
 
Good.....another Raiders coach who KC owned.......Shell went 2-9 vs. KC in his tenure....and we happily beat him in a winner take all game that got him fired in Dec. 1994.

Let the good times roll.....

 
Good.....another Raiders coach who KC owned.......Shell went 2-9 vs. KC in his tenure....and we happily beat him in a winner take all game that got him fired in Dec. 1994.

Let the good times roll.....
F-U :D

 
Good.....another Raiders coach who KC owned.......Shell went 2-9 vs. KC in his tenure....and we happily beat him in a winner take all game that got him fired in Dec. 1994.

Let the good times roll.....
:D
 
Let me just say.....

:bag:

It's going to be hard holding my head up as a Raider fan until Big Al takes a dirt nap and someone else takes over the team. He used to be the reason Oakland was good. Now, he is the reason they can't get a good coach. This Art Shell hiring will not end well.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so.

 
I agree the problem is with Al Davis. I don't know if there is another owner that is more knowledgable (or at least used to be) when it comes to the X's and O's of football but he has truly been a disaster in the salary cap era.

The guy needs to hire a good GM and head coach and then restrict himself to the owner's box.

 
Let me just say.....

:bag:

It's going to be hard holding my head up as a Raider fan until Big Al takes a dirt nap and someone else takes over the team. He used to be the reason Oakland was good. Now, he is the reason they can't get a good coach. This Art Shell hiring will not end well.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so.
Al Davis died 10 years ago. Heaven wouldn't take him and Satan was worried Al would take his job. I think he is here forever.
 
So what do theydo with Collins? M feeling has been that Al want Collins under center and that Art will comply like a goo solidier. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 
Yearly Rankings under Shell . . .

Passing Yards: 23, 25, 26, 18, 19, 23

Highest Ranked at Each Position Each Year . . .

WR: 12, 22, 41, 20, 6, 5

TE: 7, 12, 2, 11, 14, 17
How can this be? Top ranked TEs and WRs and low ranked passing offenses? I don't think there were as many teams in the NFL then as there are now so those ranking are quite low.
 
I never thought Art Shell did a very good job with his running game. He had Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, and Eric Dickerson (for one season). Only Bo had a good deal of success in Shell's scheme, and even then Jackson rarely made it into the end zone. Marcus Allen was considered a scoring machine over his career, but only managed 18 TDs in his four years with Shell. Dickerson ran for almost 1700 yards in his last full season before his one with the Raiders. Eric only managed 729 yards as the full-time starter, only reaching the end zone twice.

 
No one answered the almighty question, run first or pass first? Any old Raider fans remember his offensive philosphy (or lack thereof)?
The answer is simple. Al Davis brings in a guy who played for the Raiders in their heyday of the bombs away offense. Art is a figurehead HC and Al Davis will be running a bombs away offense.GL Raider fans.

Randy Moss is up on my list next year. Al will be demanding he gets the ball from the Box.

 
I think my only question here is, was there anyone left for Al Davis to interview? He interviewed or offered the job to a lot of other people and then gave it to Shell after no one wanted the job.

Art Shell has been in football but out of coaching for a long time. A long time. There are no great assistants left that he can hire. If no one wanted the head coaching job, imagine how hard it will be to get a assistants? Joe Gibbs was lost and clueless his first season back but he hired a good staff, and continues to do that. Who is Shell going to hire?

This team will be picking in the top five of the draft for the rest of this decade. Mark that down.

 
Shell never had a 300-carry back; he had just one 200-carry back. He never had a 1000-yard back. So his history is RBBC (with some dang good backs; Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Bo Jackson, Roger Craig, though some of those were past their primes).

His defenses were better than his offenses. The one characteristic his offenses had was a high yards per passing attempt; almost always in the top 10 in the league, despite attempts being in the bottom half. That suggests there will be some "you go long" plays for Randy Moss and Jerry Porter, and they may want to keep Kerry Collins, who at least can throw it a long way.

I think the idea that he's not a good coach is unfounded. He has a good win/loss record, and the coach who took over for him did a poorer job, and it's not like he had great talent to work with; his 1994 roster included Jeff Hostetler, Harvey Williams, Ragib Ismail, and Andrew Glover; the only significant offensive player was Tim Brown. He managed 9-7 with that lineup, followed up by 8-8 and 7-9 with Mike White.
Keep in mind Bo Jackson didn't join the team each year until baseball was over.
 
I never thought Art Shell did a very good job with his running game. He had Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, and Eric Dickerson (for one season). Only Bo had a good deal of success in Shell's scheme, and even then Jackson rarely made it into the end zone. Marcus Allen was considered a scoring machine over his career, but only managed 18 TDs in his four years with Shell. Dickerson ran for almost 1700 yards in his last full season before his one with the Raiders. Eric only managed 729 yards as the full-time starter, only reaching the end zone twice.
Eric Dickerson was done when he got to the Raiders. He came to the Raiders in his 10TH season. He ran for a whopping 91 yards the rest of his career after he left the Raiders after that one season. I am not thrilled with the Shell hire, but considering that no really good coach will come to the Raiders with the inability to pick their own staff I think they could have done worse (John Shoop and the like).
 
Yearly Rankings under Shell . . .

Passing Yards: 23, 25, 26, 18, 19, 23

Highest Ranked at Each Position Each Year . . .

WR: 12, 22, 41, 20, 6, 5

TE: 7, 12, 2, 11, 14, 17
How can this be? Top ranked TEs and WRs and low ranked passing offenses? I don't think there were as many teams in the NFL then as there are now so those ranking are quite low.
Easy. Have no other viable receivers, use only one TE, and run very few routes to RB.
 
Personally, I hope the Raiders bounce back. I'm all things Raiders mystique, etc.

They've been in a downward spiral since that center attended that donkey show in Tijuana.

Don't discount what Tim Brown meant to this team not only on the field, but moreso in the locker room.

 
Personally, I hope the Raiders bounce back. I'm all things Raiders mystique, etc.

They've been in a downward spiral since that center attended that donkey show in Tijuana.

Don't discount what Tim Brown meant to this team not only on the field, but moreso in the locker room.
Puh-lease.Tim Brown was a selfish, loudmouth jackoff who *called himself* "Mr. Raider".

Any time he opened his mouth, something STUPID came out. If he endorsed

a coach, he was the wrong guy for the job.

He was even an ### enough to basically say that Madden, when it was announced

that he got into the hall of fame, wasn't a very good coach and his players

didn't like playing for him. Way to go, "Mr. Raider".

For a guy who called himself "Mr. Raider", he sure went out of his way to

diss Madden as well as have semi-public feuds with Al Davis. TB's a putz,

pure and simple.

Another funny thing is that TB didn't look like such a great WR once he was

lined up with Jerry Rice (even when Jerry had lost a step at that point). Old

Man Rice made TB look very average the whole time they were on the team

together.

TB is the only Raider Lifer that I would LOVE to see *NOT* make the Hall of

Fame. He pissed me off that much.

 
Tim Brown is a LOCK for the Hall. Don't understand your angst about the best Raider wide receiver ever.
Best Raider wide receiver ever?!Better than Cliff Branch?

Better than Fred Biletnikoff?

Better than, dare I say, Jerry Rice?

Better that Randy Moss? :)

I watched too many years of TB showing off his alligator arms when

going over the middle. Too many years of him running out of bounds

instead of getting those extra few yards when it was really needed.

Too many years of him calling "fair catch" when returning punts.

I know that TB will make the Hall. I'm just saying that he's the only

lifetime Raider that I'm actually rooting against.

Yeah, I guess you could call it angst.

 
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How about Tim Brown complaining to the refs EVERY TIME he didn't catch a ball thrown his way? I don't miss that whiner.

 
Don't discount what Tim Brown meant to this team not only on the field, but moreso in the locker room.
In terms of veteran leadership, Brown's retirement pales in comparision to the void left by Rich Gannon's sudden departure.
 
As a life-long Raider fan, I'm somewhat cautiously optimistic about Art Shell's hiring. Art's not a great "Xs and Os" guy, nor is he a master strategist. He has been popular with the players, but I've also felt that he was too much of a "yes man" to Al Davis' wishes. He didn't handle the "Bo versus Marcus" RB issue well at all.

I'm really sorry that the egos of Jon Gruden and Al Davis couldn't co-exist. I think Al's biggest problem with Gruden was that the focus of the media was on Gruden, and he became the "face of the franchise", instead of the players and the "Raider mystique".

 

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