Head Coach Jack Del Rio
Monday was a busy day for the Oakland Raiders organization top to bottom.
Not only did the Raiders' 2016 Draft Class arrive at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility, Head Coach Jack Del Rio also spent some time in The Jungle with Jim Rome.
Del Rio spoke to Rome about a variety of subjects, but let's look at the highlights from his time on the air.
Changing the culture in Oakland was a key to the team finding success in 2015.
"I thought we were very purposeful in the way we went about our business throughout the offseason, really dedicated ourselves to the culture we wanted to create here and guys really bought in. There was a lot of change, and they were willing to change, and were excited to change and kind of embrace the vision that we have here, and took ownership. We're excited that we were competitive in all but the first game, and we know there's more in front of us, and we're eager to have more and work for it."
**"There's no shortcut to being good."
**
"I talked about it this morning; I said, 'there's hype out there that doesn't mean a damn thing. Don't be concerned with that.' What it's about is the work you put in, it's coming together as a team, it's paying the price, it's putting in the work. There's no shortcut to being good. We have a chance. We've acquired some good players and we've developed some good players, but a collection of good players doesn't make a good team. A good team has to find itself, has to find its rhythm, has to put in the work and pay the price, and that's what we're doing right now."
**
The pass rush and the secondary work hand in hand.**
"I feel good about [the secondary]. I think the better our pass rush is, the better any secondary is. We took steps in that area as well with grabbing Bruce Irvin in free agency, and being able to draft Shilique Calhoun and then we just added Damontre Moore to get a shot to come in here and see if he can't jumpstart his career. We've got some weapons, and Aldon [Smith] at some point will be back and join us hopefully come November."
He shared his thoughts on quarterback Derek Carr.
"I think he has a terrific presence. He's a great worker. He's a great communicator. He is a good thrower of the football and he can put it where he wants to put it, and not everybody can do that, but he can, and he makes great decisions, so we love where we are with Derek and his development, and we're looking forward to making this another step forward for him."
Key to Carr's success has been the addition of offensive weapons for the Silver and Black.
"Even last year, we attacked the wide receiver position by signing Crab [Michael Crabtree] and drafting Coop [Amari Cooper], and we developed Seth Roberts who was here, and he played real well for us in really the No. 3 spot, and then we got Andre Holmes back as a No. 4. He's a big, vertical guy, so we feel like that's a good group and we expect them to take a step forward this year."
