NFL Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders: Interim Head Coach Tony Sparano Delivers Backhanded Slap to Dennis Allen

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Introductory press conferences are typically boring, tedious affairs filled with little more than a liberal sprinkling of platitudes, rah-rah speeches meant to get the fan base fired up and plenty of assurances that the new guy would be different from the old guy. The introductory presser for Oakland Raiders interim head coach Tony Sparano, who is replacing the recently fired Dennis Allen – the guy who hired him – for the most part, did nothing to shake that image. With lots of red meat for the base and talk about the “Raider Way,” there wasn’t very much that could be considered remarkable about Sparano’s introduction.

Until there was.

It was probably just a throwaway line on Sparano’s part; something he probably didn’t give a lot of thought to. But it was a line that, while perhaps unintentional, pulled the curtain back just a little bit and hinted at the reason Dennis Allen was ultimately fired.

Speaking at his introductory presser, Sparano was asked how his approach to the team was going to differ from Allen’s. Sparano said:

“We’ve got a lot of good players here. We need to let them do what they do best.”

The implication of course, is that under Allen’s watch, the players filling Oakland’s roster were not “doing what they do best” on the field. The implication is that under Allen’s watch, the players were expected to fit the schemes that Allen, offensive coordinator Greg Olsen and defensive coordinator Jason Tarver came up with, rather than tailoring the schemes around the talent they have and utilizing their personnel in such a way to get the most bang for their buck – in other words, to let them do what they do best.

Some will undoubtedly bristle at this notion. After all, in the wake of Allen’s firing, there have been numerous articles – some even on this site – that talk up what a great coach he is and bemoan the raw deal he got in Oakland.

But even the most cursory examination of Allen’s coaching, even if you limit it to just the four games he coached in 2014, reveal the truth behind Sparano’s comments. Too many times in this young season, we saw RB Darren McFadden plunging into the middle of the line, only to be brought down after a pick up of a yard or two. McFadden has never been strong a between-the-tackles runner. His strength is his speed and being able to make people miss in open space. Had Allen been interested in playing to McFadden’s strengths, we would have seen him sent out on more tosses or sweeps; something to allow him to get to the edge where he could use his speed to his – and the team’s – advantage. Or how about WR Denarius Moore? Moore’s strength has never been as a middle-of-the-field receiver. He’s a burner who makes plays deep and out in open space. Yet time-after-time, we saw Moore sent out across the middle. Sometimes – as in the case of his botched play that cost Oakland the game against the New England Patriots – to disastrous effect.

You could go through the tape of every game this season and find case after case of Allen and his coaching staff not maximizing the talent on the roster. And not putting the players – or the team – in the right position to have success. A good coach tailors his schemes and philosophies around the talent he has at his disposal. It sounds like Sparano gets that concept, whereas Allen never did. Whether Sparano will be able to apply that concept now that he has taken the reins remains to be seen. The Raider Nation, and perhaps more importantly, Mark Davis, are certainly hoping so.

If nothing else, at least he gave us all something to talk about after an introductory presser, for a change.

Kevin Saito is a fiction writer, sports junkie, history nerd, and NFL contributor to www.RantSports.com Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or on Google

Share Tweet