Reggie McKenzie was fired the day Gruden was hired
We all knew it was coming. At least the ones with common sense. That nano second the ink dried on Jon Gruden’s 10 year, $100M deal, Reggie McKenzie was fired. Yes, I know he was fired that day but he was fired that day.
The Raiders made it official yesterday in which involved a pinch of inevitability with a tablespoon of disingenuous claims. The short and sweet press release pretty much told you all you needed to know. It wreaked of “Thank you for your time, please turn your badge in before exiting the building.”
That was definitely better than the performance Gruden put on. When Gruden started with “I’m not going to sit up here and talk about any disconnect,” he should’ve stopped right there. Really. Who in the room could believe anything that would come behind that statement? Yet he would continue trying to convince people that they were on the same page. In reality, Gruden, with the support of owner Mark Davis, booted McKenzie out like Uncle Phil used to do Jazz on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
It would be foolish to look at the Raiders record under McKenzie and use that as the sole determinant of job performance.
When he took over the Raiders, the organization was in the worst cap situation of any team in the NFL. They were void of talent just about everywhere on the roster. Every draft pick wasn’t going to go to the Hall of Fame but he did draft a franchise quarterback (Derek Carr), an elite wide receiver (Amari Cooper) and the best pass rusher in football (Khalil Mack). Out of the three, only Carr remains.
Rumor has it that the Raiders are interested in bringing in Bruce Allen. Yes, that Bruce Allen. It’s hard to tell if this is legitimate or wishful thinking by every fan in the Washington D.C. metro area. Allen and Gruden worked together in Tampa and there was a reason why that duo didn’t last. After winning a Super Bowl with the players Tony Dungy cultivated, the Gruden/Allen combination returned the Buccaneers back to mediocrity. McKenzie doesn’t have that to worry about because two of the best players he drafted are helping Dallas and Chicago make the playoffs.
In Allen, Gruden has a figure head who knows how to be a figure head. If Gruden needs anyone to co-sign the notion, Dan Snyder is on line 1. So, it would make sense for Allen to make a pit stop in Oakland on his way to the bright lights of Las Vegas.
So Gruden has what he didn’t in his first stint with the Raiders, total control. He’s the puppet-master with his hand in Davis’ back. Maybe he will succeed and fans will forget the messy blunder year one was. Who knows? What we do know if McKenzie took over an awful situation and got this team within an injury of a deep playoff run.
He deserved better.
