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Kiffin's `perfect' debut
http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/
Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Saturday at 8:21 pm
It could have been just a rookie mistake, or it was part of the deal the Raiders made with the Detroit Lions, but Lane Kiffin showed up for his first press briefing Saturday morning wearing a powder blue shirt.
Kiffin's first day in the draft room with the Raiders demonstrated the new coach was able to sell Al Davis on some personel issue. He rectified the fashion error by the time he arrived in the media room for the second time a little after 7 p.m.
Like every other Raiders coach on draft day, he was back in organizational gear.
Only those who were in the room know what went on Saturday. Kiffin called the day "perfect" and time will tell if it's anything close to that.
It was clear Kiffin had a big say in what happened.
Russell seemed a lock to be the Raider since the day at the NFL owner's meetings Davis compared his physical skills to John Elway. There are those who believe Kiffin was at least at one time in Brady Quinn's corner, but if that was the case, considering the way Quinn fell like a stone, the consensus as of Saturday was that the boss was right.
You can see Davis' fingerprints on third-round pick Quintin Moses, a pass rusher to complement Derrick Burgess and someone who can further the cliche of "the quarterback must go down, and he must go down hard."
Johnnie Lee Higgins, a sprinter from Texas-El Paso, would have been a likely Raiders pick from coaches John Rauch through Art Shell.
Zach Miller, however, was a Pac-10 guy who Kiffin has admired since Arizona State and someone who fits in to the multiple vision the coach has for his offense.
Miller was the pick even though Chris Houston, one of the fastest cornerbacks in the draft _ Davis loves fast cornerbacks _ was still on the board. He went to Houston at No. 44.
The deal which sent a fourth-round pick for quarterback Josh McCown and wide receiver Mike Williams also looks to be a case of Davis giving his new coach what he wanted.
The McCown deal, Kiffin confirmed, was in the making for weeks. The Raiders knew he was willing to come in and be the quarterback until Russell is ready. Figure it at midseason or so if the Raiders are struggling, later if they're unexpectedly in the playoff race.
Williams is a classic Raider reclamation project, but one with close ties to Kiffin. Kiffin recruited Williams to USC out of high school in Tampa, Fla., and talked him up Saturday as if he were still worthy of the No. 10 pick in the first round of the 2005 draft.
The Lions, however, were dying to dump Williams. You can imagine G.M. Matt Millen telling the Raiders, "Yeah, you can have McCown, but you've got to also take Williams and Kiffin's got to wear our colors Saturday morning."
Some of Kiffin's obersvations Saturday evening:
"We have every single pick we started the day with but in that time we've got the No. 1 tight end that was on our board, the No. 1 quarterback that was on our board, one of the highest defensive ends on our board and also went out and got a quarterback with starting experience in this league that actually played well . . . I believe he threw seven picks and 10 picks his two full seasons starting so the guy knows how to take care of the football as well. And we added Mike Williams to that and the defensive end so we couldn't imagine it going any better. there are no scenarios we could imagine that would make it better."
– "The No. 1 tight end on the board for us was Zach Miller. It was an area we felt a huge need in. We needed someone who could do everything — a guy that could come in and help us in the pass game, a guy who could come in and line up in the backfield and a guy who could help us in the run game as well. we are not looking for a one-dimensional tight end."
– (Mike Williams) is very familiar with the offense, somebody who has played the `X' position and has been a very dominant force over there. Obviously we think if we can get him back to that form or incorporate him somehow it is a great deal for us."
– "Whether (Randy Moss) is here at the end of the day or the end of tomorrow doesn’t give any different percentage or chance whether he’ll be here or not. There’s always compensation for next year or different things, you could go that way."
– "It’s a business. It’s a business. There’s a business side of it but at the same time we’ll take a sensitive side of it and understand that this was not a very pleasant day for Andrew (Walter)to watch the first pick and then here’s another person added. But it is a business and he’ll get a chance to compete."
http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/
Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Saturday at 8:21 pm
It could have been just a rookie mistake, or it was part of the deal the Raiders made with the Detroit Lions, but Lane Kiffin showed up for his first press briefing Saturday morning wearing a powder blue shirt.
Kiffin's first day in the draft room with the Raiders demonstrated the new coach was able to sell Al Davis on some personel issue. He rectified the fashion error by the time he arrived in the media room for the second time a little after 7 p.m.
Like every other Raiders coach on draft day, he was back in organizational gear.
Only those who were in the room know what went on Saturday. Kiffin called the day "perfect" and time will tell if it's anything close to that.
It was clear Kiffin had a big say in what happened.
Russell seemed a lock to be the Raider since the day at the NFL owner's meetings Davis compared his physical skills to John Elway. There are those who believe Kiffin was at least at one time in Brady Quinn's corner, but if that was the case, considering the way Quinn fell like a stone, the consensus as of Saturday was that the boss was right.
You can see Davis' fingerprints on third-round pick Quintin Moses, a pass rusher to complement Derrick Burgess and someone who can further the cliche of "the quarterback must go down, and he must go down hard."
Johnnie Lee Higgins, a sprinter from Texas-El Paso, would have been a likely Raiders pick from coaches John Rauch through Art Shell.
Zach Miller, however, was a Pac-10 guy who Kiffin has admired since Arizona State and someone who fits in to the multiple vision the coach has for his offense.
Miller was the pick even though Chris Houston, one of the fastest cornerbacks in the draft _ Davis loves fast cornerbacks _ was still on the board. He went to Houston at No. 44.
The deal which sent a fourth-round pick for quarterback Josh McCown and wide receiver Mike Williams also looks to be a case of Davis giving his new coach what he wanted.
The McCown deal, Kiffin confirmed, was in the making for weeks. The Raiders knew he was willing to come in and be the quarterback until Russell is ready. Figure it at midseason or so if the Raiders are struggling, later if they're unexpectedly in the playoff race.
Williams is a classic Raider reclamation project, but one with close ties to Kiffin. Kiffin recruited Williams to USC out of high school in Tampa, Fla., and talked him up Saturday as if he were still worthy of the No. 10 pick in the first round of the 2005 draft.
The Lions, however, were dying to dump Williams. You can imagine G.M. Matt Millen telling the Raiders, "Yeah, you can have McCown, but you've got to also take Williams and Kiffin's got to wear our colors Saturday morning."
Some of Kiffin's obersvations Saturday evening:
"We have every single pick we started the day with but in that time we've got the No. 1 tight end that was on our board, the No. 1 quarterback that was on our board, one of the highest defensive ends on our board and also went out and got a quarterback with starting experience in this league that actually played well . . . I believe he threw seven picks and 10 picks his two full seasons starting so the guy knows how to take care of the football as well. And we added Mike Williams to that and the defensive end so we couldn't imagine it going any better. there are no scenarios we could imagine that would make it better."
– "The No. 1 tight end on the board for us was Zach Miller. It was an area we felt a huge need in. We needed someone who could do everything — a guy that could come in and help us in the pass game, a guy who could come in and line up in the backfield and a guy who could help us in the run game as well. we are not looking for a one-dimensional tight end."
– (Mike Williams) is very familiar with the offense, somebody who has played the `X' position and has been a very dominant force over there. Obviously we think if we can get him back to that form or incorporate him somehow it is a great deal for us."
– "Whether (Randy Moss) is here at the end of the day or the end of tomorrow doesn’t give any different percentage or chance whether he’ll be here or not. There’s always compensation for next year or different things, you could go that way."
– "It’s a business. It’s a business. There’s a business side of it but at the same time we’ll take a sensitive side of it and understand that this was not a very pleasant day for Andrew (Walter)to watch the first pick and then here’s another person added. But it is a business and he’ll get a chance to compete."
