The 35-minute press conference announcing the return of Jon Gruden as head coach of the Raiders was certainly a spectacle worth watching. More than 100 media members crammed into the team’s performance center facility and were joined by some 40-50 former players who had played under Gruden, making for an atmosphere unlike any other head coaching hire. The following are excerpts from the press conference:
Mark Davis: Once a Raider, always a Raider. Never been more appropriate than today. I would like to start off by reintroducing some members of the Raider family. First, our head coach’s mom and dad, Jim and Kathy Gruden. I especially want to thank Kathy Gruden for being one of my biggest cheerleaders in this process. Next, I would like to introduce the wife and my other biggest cheerleader, Cindy Gruden. Without the support of the entire Gruden family, we wouldn’t be here today. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for making my dream come true
Gruden: I’d just like to thank Mark Davis and Mrs. Davis for this opportunity. I used to get phone calls from Al Davis at 3 a.m. Now, I get them from Mark Davis at 3 a.m., but I want to thank you for this opportunity from the bottom of my heart. I want to thank you, Cindy, my three sons for supporting me in going after this opportunity. It takes a family effort, I think, to be all in on something like this. It’s about the people for me and that’s a big reason I am here today. I love the Raiders, and most of all, I love to win. I am going to do everything I can. No guarantees, no promises, but I want to win. I look forward to working with Reggie (McKenzie) and his staff. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve hired three new coordinators already. Paul Guenther from the Cincinnati Bengals is official. Great addition to our football team. Rich Bisaccia will be our special teams coordinator from the Dallas Cowboys. Greg Olson will be our offensive coordinator coming over from the Los Angeles Rams. I can’t wait to get started and it’s an emotional time for me.
Question: You have had offers pretty much every year to be back on the sideline since you left them in Tampa Bay. Why now?
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Gruden feeling the heat?
“I know there is a big bull’s-eye on my chest, certainly. If the people want to use that as an incentive, then so be it. I worked for Al Davis in 1998. That was pressure. I was 34 years old. I’ve dealt with pressure before. I don’t really feel pressure. I love the excitement and thrill of competing, and I can’t worry about things I can’t control in that regard. I know people will want to step on me and beat me, and that is just the way this league is.”
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S&BI continually scans the message boards across Raider Nation to see what Raider fans are talking about now that the 2020 season has ended for the Raiders. We chose some of the better posts and present them here.
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