Former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon joined Greg Papa on 95.7 Thursday afternoon to talk Jon Gruden, Derek Carr and his own possible return to the Raiders – this time as Gruden’s potential quarterbacks coach.
Gannon, like everyone else seems to believe, thinks Gruden-to-Oakland is a foregone conclusion. He also offered some interesting insight on what ailed Carr this year, both from a football mechanics perspective and a leadership standpoint.
Here’s the full transcript of his appearance with Papa:
On the possibility of Gruden as Oakland’s next head coach:
“I haven’t spoken with him, but my sense is that it’s gonna happen and he’s gonna take that job and they wouldn’t have made a decision to obviously move on from Jack Del Rio if they didn’t know for certain that Jon was gonna be with them. I gotta tell you, I’m really excited. I think this is great news for Raider fans. I think it’s great news for the players. I think it’s great mews for Derek Carr.”
On being a quarterback for Gruden:
“I think he should be thrilled that he’s gonna get an opportunity to work with what I think is the best person in the business when it comes to calling plays and preparing a quarterback to play that position. I’m really excited for him and I hope he’ll take advantage of the opportunity and embrace it. That’s the thing, you can be a great coach but if you have a player that doesn’t buy in – and I’m not suggesting that Derek won’t – I’m just saying it’s really important.
Derek is gonna have to work even harder because Jon’s got an unbelievable work ethic and a passion and energy that are second to none. I always felt the pressure when I was there to – I don’t wanna say match the hours that he put in – but certainly to match the intensity, the passion and the preparation.”
On possibly being Gruden’s QBs coach:
“Honestly, guys, we talked about it in the past – a year ago, two years ago, three years ago – every time he’s always mentioned to me that he wants to get back into coaching … We really haven’t had the opportunity, because of his schedule with ESPN and my schedule with CBS, to really sit down and have a really lengthy conversation. My focus is just on ensuring that he will take the job and that he’ll get to Oakland after this playoff game. Then at that point I think it’d be an appropriate time to sit down – if in fact he has interest in me being a part of it – to sit down and have a conversation. Other than that, I wish I had more to say, but I really don’t.”
On Derek Carr, leadership and their production meeting before Raiders-Chargers:
“It was more give than take, and again I really care for him. I just think he’s a great young man and he’s a talented player and I just really want to see him take advantage of any opportunity. I just said to him, ‘I really believe you gotta be more demanding of your teammates and you gotta hold them to a higher standard.’ You get the sense that there’s some frustration from Derek when you just watch the games, you watch the film, you watch that they lack – not that they lack a sense of identity on offense – but more importantly that they don’t have execution, they don’t have the precision and the attention to detail.
He talked about that at great length in the meeting and I said, ‘Well, if it isn’t the way you want it, you need to fix it.’ And that means the head coach, the quarterback coach, the coordinator, the offensive line coach. You’re the captain of the ship and you gotta make sure it’s just the way you want it. I told him, I said, ‘Look, you go to practices with Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, if it’s not exactly the way they want it, they make the correction. They don’t wait on the coaches to make the correction. I don’t think that’s his personality, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to find a way to get it out of them, and more importantly to get it out of the teammates.
I just think that – I know it’s been a challenge for him, dealing with different players, with Cooper or Crabtree or there’s different guys on the team in terms of getting them to do it exactly the way you want it to be done. That’s what I see. When I watch the tape, it’s an offense that doesn’t execute, that doesn’t have the precision, the attention to detail, and I think that’s reflective of everyone that’s associated with it, including Derek.”
On how to fix Carr:
“Well, its hard, because sometimes you can’t change a person’s, the way they’re wired, or even their personality or their demeanor and I just think that all the great ones have a little bit of jerk in them, if you know what I mean. I just think he’s gotta find a way. I’m not saying to be abusive or to embarrass somebody. It’s just a question of just saying, ‘Guys, I’ve got to be able to hold everyone to a certain standard and if it’s not done the way I want it, I’m gonna tell ya, in no uncertain terms.’ And I just think that’s leadership. That’s what you want at that position. I think all the great ones do it, all the great ones have it. And he’s gonna have to find a way to get it out of himself.
Jon can’t do that. I can’t do that. You can coach him up a little bit differently and I think he’s gonna be coached differently. I think he has no idea what’s in store for him, just in terms of the level of preparation, the attention to detail. He’s gonna be as prepared as any quarterback could possibly be to go out and really play championship-caliber football, but he has to do it. If he doesn’t wanna come in and spend eight hours on Tuesday, his day off, then you can’t make him.
If he’s not a guy that’s gonna come in on Monday nights or stay late on Friday, then you get what you get. You’re gonna get out of it what you put into it and I always say those who invest the most are the last to surrender. We’re gonna find out how tough this guy is and how hard he’s willing to work to really take his game to the next level, but more importantly to take the Raiders to the next level.”
On how to fix Carr from a football mechanics standpoint:
“I would start with the lower half of his body. I don’t think there’s any question he’s got really great arm talent, but he gets lazy with his feet at times, he doesn’t push away through center, he gets lazy when he’s in the gun sometimes. His change of direction skills can and will improve. I would encourage him to use his legs more, picking up a couple first downs, extending plays. You look at Aaron Rodgers, who’s probably the poster child for that type of play. I think that Derek has that athleticism to be able to do more of that. Now I’m not saying you wanna turn him into a 500-yard rusher or you wanna turn him into a guy that’s running all over the yard, but you wanna make sure you see some of his athleticism, his explosiveness.
I think it starts with the lower half of his body and I just think his overall attention to detail, his preparation. You can understand offensive football, but then you can be a master of it. You can just know what everybody’s doing, why they’re doing it, and I think the ‘why’ is gonna be important for Derek. Why is Jon calling plays or why is Jon installing this particular protection or what is Jon anticipating with this type of call? Again, I’m just assuming that Jon Gruden will ultimately wind up being head coach of the Raiders because, like everybody else, I go by what I see and what I hear. He’s gonna have to do that.
The other thing about it is you know Jon is gonna be demanding and he’s gonna be tough on him and he’s gonna have to be willing to be criticized. You’re gonna have to get yelled at. You can’t have thin skin when you work with Jon Gruden, but if you understand where it’s coming from. I mean it’s coming from a position, and a place of love. He wants you to do great. Jon Gruden’s not interested in you being good. He wants you to be the best you can possibly be. Look, I’d be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I’d have at least one Super Bowl, maybe more, if Jon never left Oakland. I wish that never happened. But I’m just saying I realized when I was with Jon that there were great things in store and it was a special, unique opportunity for me. I embraced the opportunity. I took advantage of the opportunity. I hope Derek will do the same.”
