Podcast: Importance of GM/Coach, AP, Future, Time of Peace
Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on the Power and Importance of the GM Coach Relationship, AP and the Future, and a Time of Peace in Raider Nation
Transcript
00:00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:00:07 Raiders Insider Podcast with another edition for you today.
00:00:13 Hope you're doing well up early and well, depending on when you see it, you may be up
00:00:19 late, but it's great to be with you.
00:00:21 I'm taping this super early in the morning on Sunday and hope that you're well, hope
00:00:26 your family's doing well.
00:00:27 Again, thank you for joining us.
00:00:29 We are growing exponentially.
00:00:31 So thankful for all of you that like and subscribe and share.
00:00:37 Our content's completely free.
00:00:40 We're pumping out a ton of content for you.
00:00:42 You can always find it when you go to si.com/nfl/raiders.
00:00:47 You can also follow me on IG @HondoSR and on X, formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenters.
00:00:55 But anyways, it's great to be with you all today.
00:00:58 Couple of things I want to address super, super quick.
00:01:01 Many of you know I'm on vacation, I'm on a honey trip, but I am leaving as soon as I'm
00:01:07 done taping this and I'm heading back to Vegas.
00:01:10 There is nothing breaking as far as the GM, but I expect it.
00:01:14 This is not reporting anything is done, but I'm expecting Monday or Tuesday it will be
00:01:21 done.
00:01:22 I don't know what I'm hearing that it could be, but nothing's done at the time of this
00:01:29 taping, but I'm heading back there to be there, of course, for the press conference and to
00:01:33 do what I do.
00:01:35 I want to address one thing that has nothing to do with Raiders football, and then the
00:01:42 rest of the podcast will all be about Raiders football.
00:01:45 Yesterday, I just felt the impression, and I mentioned to all of you that I had recently,
00:01:52 well, I say recently, it's been a few months, but I had read a survey and it was just quickened
00:01:58 to my mind yesterday about a huge percentage of Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds,
00:02:10 all races, male, female, all ends of the political spectrum, religious spectrum.
00:02:18 I don't remember if the figure was 75, 85 or 90%, but it was close to 90 for some reason
00:02:26 is what the number that sticks in my head of Americans that said they don't feel like
00:02:35 they matter to anybody.
00:02:39 That stunned me when I read that.
00:02:44 It was a huge number.
00:02:48 At the end of the podcast yesterday, I just took a minute and just said to all of you,
00:02:51 if nobody's told you lately that you matter, you matter to me.
00:02:55 You matter to my family.
00:02:56 We're grateful for each of you that subscribe and like and share and all of it and watch.
00:03:04 I can tell you our family prays for you every day.
00:03:08 I just was stunned at the amount of emails that came in from you, the listeners, that
00:03:20 said you were one of those people.
00:03:24 Last night before we went to bed, it was really late, but my wife and I just took time and
00:03:30 we looked at every one of your emails.
00:03:32 We read them, we prayed for you.
00:03:34 I just wanted to thank you for sharing with us.
00:03:38 I appreciate every morning.
00:03:40 Well, I put these up every morning, but whenever you watch them, we get to spend some time
00:03:44 together and talk Raider football and the Silver and Black.
00:03:48 I just wanted you to know I appreciated your responses.
00:03:52 I appreciated you felt comfortable to share with us and that you appreciated it.
00:03:58 I just wanted to let you know you were heard and you matter.
00:04:04 Wherever you are around the world, we heard from people from several different countries
00:04:08 that said, "Hey, it's not just in America.
00:04:10 I live in Mexico.
00:04:12 I live in Scotland.
00:04:14 I live in Ireland.
00:04:15 I live in New Zealand."
00:04:16 I have several, I would say probably eight or nine from different countries.
00:04:20 It was just great to hear from you guys.
00:04:22 I just want to tell you thank you for sharing that with me.
00:04:26 I appreciate all of you.
00:04:28 Let's get right into Raiders.
00:04:33 One of the things that I like to do, and I think it's important, is I no longer spend
00:04:39 as much time in the comment section as I used to just because we've grown so much and I
00:04:45 just literally can't.
00:04:48 But I always try to pay attention for a couple of reasons.
00:04:52 Number one, if one or two people tell you, "Can you explain this?" and you already explained
00:05:00 it, you can blow that off and say, "Well, maybe they just didn't listen."
00:05:04 But when multiple people, then you know, "Okay, I probably failed in communicating."
00:05:11 I think it's important to listen to that.
00:05:13 I have no problems with criticism.
00:05:14 When it gets personal, I just mute them.
00:05:17 But I have no problems with criticism at all.
00:05:20 I think it's important because sometimes your critics are the only ones telling you what
00:05:25 you need to hear.
00:05:26 I had a bunch of people say to me, "Do you think you were wrong for being critical of
00:05:33 the Raiders hiring the head coach before the GM because Mark Davis just wanted to let AP
00:05:42 have his time in the sun?"
00:05:45 I appreciate your sentiments, but that is not accurate.
00:05:50 They did not hire AP first because they wanted him to have his day in the sun.
00:05:55 First of all, there's something that you need to be aware of.
00:05:58 Friday is the least consuming day of information.
00:06:07 Americans have their attention on a weekend and on other things.
00:06:10 In fact, in television, I did television for many, many years and still do now as a guest
00:06:15 appearance.
00:06:16 I mean, I've been a sports director and all that and an anchor.
00:06:22 They call it the Friday dump.
00:06:24 What that means is you watch for press releases and everything else to come out on a Friday
00:06:30 because that's the dump day.
00:06:31 That's when the least amount of people are paying attention.
00:06:35 You a lot of times will see the government if there's something they really don't want
00:06:38 you to know about or they don't want it to get as much attention, it comes out on a Friday.
00:06:43 Companies will do that, whatever.
00:06:46 Number one, the Raiders PR people are exceptionally good.
00:06:51 It wouldn't have come out if their sole purpose was to have given AP his time to shine, they
00:06:58 would have done it on Thursday.
00:07:02 There had not been a decision on a general manager.
00:07:04 I can tell you as of the taping of this, I know that there has not been a general manager
00:07:10 decision made.
00:07:13 I don't need to go back ad nauseum and talk about everything that I talked about yesterday.
00:07:19 You can go back and watch it, but I do want to hit the top points.
00:07:24 And then I want to dig in a little bit more on why this is potentially a problem.
00:07:31 And it's potentially a problem for a couple of reasons.
00:07:36 First of all, now let me just say right up front, I still expect Champ Kelly to be named
00:07:41 the general manager.
00:07:43 It's not done.
00:07:45 There is, as I've told you the other day, it was down to two people, Ed Dodds from the
00:07:50 Indianapolis Colts.
00:07:51 He's the assistant general manager.
00:07:52 He's been there seven seasons.
00:07:54 He's been in the NFL for 21, very well respected, great option for the Raiders.
00:08:03 And Champ Kelly, who is considered around the league, he is incredibly well respected,
00:08:12 incredibly well respected.
00:08:16 He's a guy that agents respect.
00:08:19 He is a guy that people in the league office have tremendous respect for.
00:08:24 And he's a guy that other teams have incredible respect for.
00:08:29 He's a lot like Ron Wolfe.
00:08:30 You may remember Ron Wolfe was with the Raiders organization.
00:08:33 They let him get away.
00:08:34 And now many consider Ron Wolfe to have been the greatest general manager in NFL history.
00:08:43 Obviously Champ's not there yet, but he has that potential to be that guy.
00:08:48 But there is some dissension inside the Raiders between Dodds and between Champ.
00:08:57 So for those that saying, you know, I think it was just a chance to give APs a chance,
00:09:00 I can tell you factually that's not accurate.
00:09:04 Now it was imperative that I believe the general manager gets hired first, because if you go
00:09:16 back and look at the last several years of the Raiders, okay, you bring in John Gruden,
00:09:21 who's the head coach and the boss, he hires Mike Mayock.
00:09:27 Okay.
00:09:29 And there were a lot of decisions made by John.
00:09:31 And by the way, I really liked John.
00:09:35 And I think there were some things that John did wrong, but I think he did a lot right
00:09:40 too.
00:09:42 But I think it would have helped John if Mike Mayock could have been a governor to him a
00:09:48 little bit.
00:09:49 I think, I don't care who the coach is.
00:09:53 I always like the relationship with a general manager over a coach.
00:10:01 Now, other than Belichick, and that's when you had Tom Brady.
00:10:07 So really the Patriot way, I wrote about this weeks ago, was really the Brady way.
00:10:14 Other than Belichick with Brady, it's never worked.
00:10:20 Now coaches get into a scenario, I'm on a hunting trip.
00:10:26 Well, not anymore, I'm about to jump on an airplane, but I'll come back and finish my
00:10:30 hunting trip.
00:10:31 But coaches have a tendency, they can't see the forest because they're surrounded by trees.
00:10:43 So they fall in love with the player.
00:10:44 Maybe player just gives a maximum effort.
00:10:48 Okay.
00:10:49 I'm not taking a bunny trip.
00:10:51 I want to put this all in perspective.
00:10:54 Many of you know about grades and player grades.
00:10:58 In fact, the inventor of the draft board was a former Buffalo Bills head coach.
00:11:06 He was a defensive coordinator on a Super Bowl team with Johnny Unitas.
00:11:09 His name was Hank Bullough.
00:11:12 Hank was a great friend of mine.
00:11:15 I'm very close to his family, his grandsons.
00:11:19 His son, his sons are great guys.
00:11:24 I'm friends with Chuck and Shane and I'm friends of course with Max and Riley's grandsons and
00:11:31 great friends with the Bulls.
00:11:33 Love that family.
00:11:35 You may remember Riley.
00:11:37 He was a rookie with Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they called him Joe Dirt and Hard Knocks.
00:11:42 He was a very popular figure.
00:11:45 Very good friends of that family.
00:11:47 So Hank was the inventor of the NFL draft board.
00:11:54 So he would rate players A, B, C, D. So you may be an A76 or a C52, whatever.
00:12:04 And so Hank was the first to create the modern draft board.
00:12:09 So when you were drafting, if you wanted to take just the best player, you just looked
00:12:14 over and said, "Bam.
00:12:15 Okay.
00:12:16 I'm going to put him here."
00:12:17 You didn't, there was very little prior to Hank, you know, there would be 15 minutes
00:12:25 between picks in the first round and teams would be scurrying, "Okay, who do we want?"
00:12:29 And then Hank comes along and goes, "This isn't efficient.
00:12:32 I'm a coach.
00:12:33 Coaches make everything efficient.
00:12:34 Let's just do a draft board."
00:12:36 So when it's our turn to pick, we walk over and go, "This is the guy we want."
00:12:41 And so he used to rate players.
00:12:44 Now that's still now common at all 32 teams.
00:12:48 So let's use, let's just make up a player.
00:12:52 Let's call him Tim Thomas.
00:12:58 And he's a left tackle.
00:13:02 And boy, you really like him at left tackle.
00:13:04 He's an elite guy.
00:13:06 He doesn't have the ability to slide over and play right.
00:13:09 So that hurts him a little bit for position flexibility.
00:13:13 But overall, let's say he's a really good, and Tim Thomas is a 77.
00:13:19 So you're sitting there and you like him as a 77 on your board.
00:13:23 You think, "Hey, I'm willing to invest a second round pick in this kid, Tim Thomas."
00:13:29 Well then you look at your board.
00:13:30 Now Hank had all the other players of other teams ranked as well.
00:13:36 So he'd look over and say, "Well, look at this team over here has a guy who's two years
00:13:42 into his contract.
00:13:45 We've got him rated as a 78, but we can pick him up for a third round pick and save our
00:13:55 second round for somebody else."
00:13:57 So he'd trade for that guy and bring him over.
00:13:59 He still had a second round pick.
00:14:02 Value, value.
00:14:05 And so he was able to look at people and value people and to say, "Okay, look at this.
00:14:14 This is the guy we have."
00:14:16 Now what happens sometimes is coaches fall in love with a guy.
00:14:20 Maybe they like them.
00:14:21 Maybe their wives are friends.
00:14:23 I heard a story one time about a head coach that would not, in the NFL, would not cut
00:14:28 a player because their wives were friends.
00:14:32 True story.
00:14:33 I remember, I don't want to say too much.
00:14:38 I don't want you to know what organization I'm talking about, but let's just say there
00:14:41 was anger because the coach wouldn't cut this player.
00:14:45 Now that general manager had been brought in after a coach was hired and had been there
00:14:50 actually a couple of years.
00:14:51 So the coach had a little bit more leeway.
00:14:53 A general manager can look at it and say, "Look, I'm glad that your wives are friends.
00:14:58 I appreciate that.
00:15:00 But guess what?
00:15:01 This is an upgrade and you love the guy.
00:15:04 As a general manager, I'm not as close to the players as you are.
00:15:10 My job is to upgrade the roster.
00:15:12 Love you.
00:15:13 Appreciate you.
00:15:14 No, we're not picking this guy or we're trading this guy and bringing this guy in."
00:15:19 That delineation between those two jobs is so very important because coaches are in the
00:15:24 locker room.
00:15:25 Coaches are with these players more than they're with their own families.
00:15:29 Relationships get built.
00:15:30 I knew a guy, a wide receiver, that was prickly.
00:15:39 Just one of those guys you get around and never was really in a good mood.
00:15:43 Wasn't a complainer, wasn't a locker room cancer, but just one of those people that
00:15:50 just wasn't warm and fuzzy.
00:15:59 And the coach just didn't like him.
00:16:01 And the general manager's like, "Listen, that guy's really good.
00:16:05 He's really, really good.
00:16:07 And we're not bringing this guy in to be your Sunday school teacher."
00:16:10 This is literally a conversation that happened.
00:16:12 I was very familiar with the situation.
00:16:15 The general manager told the coach, "I'm not bringing this guy in to be a Sunday school
00:16:20 teacher.
00:16:21 I'm bringing him in to be a wide receiver and you're going to play him."
00:16:26 And that wide receiver went on to become an All-Pro.
00:16:30 And you had to be able, there has to be, because relationships get built.
00:16:40 How many of you love to look at pictures of your children?
00:16:45 You love it.
00:16:47 My son, Dexter Ernest Wayne Carpenter, he's 18 months old and we adopted him and he is
00:16:54 the most precious little baby in the entire world.
00:16:57 Precious.
00:16:58 Just an amazing gift from God to our family.
00:17:04 And we love him.
00:17:05 And I'm constantly putting up pictures of him on social media because I love him.
00:17:08 And I'll get people to say, "Hondo, follow you forators don't care about your kid."
00:17:12 And I get that.
00:17:13 No, I don't think people are being mean.
00:17:15 Why?
00:17:16 Because our kids, to us, are the greatest.
00:17:24 But not everybody else's.
00:17:26 And that's human nature.
00:17:29 That's human nature.
00:17:30 I mean, people you have a fondness for.
00:17:33 That's why when I'm reporting to you and I'll say, I want you to know, like, I'll give you
00:17:38 a quick one.
00:17:39 When Brian Hoyer came here, now I am friends with the Hoyer family.
00:17:42 I don't mean this braggadociosly.
00:17:45 And I believe that I am able to report on and look at Brian completely abject and fair.
00:17:53 But I still said to you, I'm confessing to you a personal relationship with Brian Hoyer.
00:17:59 We've been friends for many, many, many years.
00:18:01 I'm friends with his parents, his brothers and sisters.
00:18:03 I mean, it was at his grandmother's funeral.
00:18:07 Taught my son when he was in high school how to throw football.
00:18:10 My son went on and became quarterback.
00:18:13 But I told you that, not to brag, but I was telling you because I wanted you to know in
00:18:17 case you think my perspective of Brian was jaded by a personal relationship.
00:18:24 And when you have that general manager with that divide, it makes it much easier to say,
00:18:30 coach, listen, I know you love this guy, but I need you to understand this person is a
00:18:37 better player.
00:18:39 Now, I understand you love him.
00:18:43 I understand you enjoy coaching him.
00:18:46 But my job as a general manager is to constantly be upgrading the roster.
00:18:52 I can't tell you the number of times in the National Football League that I know of teams
00:18:58 that could have drafted.
00:18:59 I'll give you another quick one.
00:19:00 I was told this at the Combine several years ago, there was an AFC general manager and
00:19:10 I were having a cup of coffee.
00:19:13 And at the time, now I like it now, at the time I hated coffee, but he asked me to get
00:19:17 a cup of coffee and you take a cup of coffee with the guy.
00:19:21 And he said to me, I know you're friends with this coach.
00:19:25 Wish you'd talk to him.
00:19:26 I'm like, why?
00:19:30 He's just got this guy that he's just so close with.
00:19:33 You know, he coached at another team, brought him with him.
00:19:37 And man, he's so married to the guy and he's a great guy.
00:19:43 But I got a chance to get us better.
00:19:46 See, I think when you run your team, where the coach coaches the team, the coach coaches
00:19:56 the team.
00:20:00 But the general manager's job is to oversee it and say, am I providing him?
00:20:05 It's the general manager's job to say, okay, this is what I want my team to look like.
00:20:11 Then he goes and picks the coach who coaches in that style, who he has that relationship.
00:20:18 Now I mentioned yesterday, you want an esprit de corps between your coach and general manager.
00:20:25 And there were several people that disagreed with me, which had very valid points.
00:20:29 They said, no, I don't want an esprit de corps.
00:20:31 We've had an esprit de corps between Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels and John Gruden
00:20:34 and Mike Mack.
00:20:35 No, you didn't.
00:20:38 You had one person in charge, McDaniels and Gruden, who said, this is what we're doing.
00:20:46 Remember, I've already shared the story.
00:20:51 Dave Ziegler wanted CJ Stroud.
00:20:55 Josh McDaniels said, no.
00:20:59 Okay.
00:21:00 That was it.
00:21:02 But can you imagine if there was an esprit de corps and Josh said, okay, tell me why
00:21:07 you want CJ.
00:21:08 And if, and Dave was able to present his information and then eventually say, okay, Josh, here's
00:21:13 the deal.
00:21:14 I'm moving up.
00:21:15 I'm getting CJ.
00:21:16 And Josh would be like, all right, you're the boss.
00:21:19 There's unity there.
00:21:21 There's an esprit de corps.
00:21:22 Esprit de corps doesn't mean free from disagreement.
00:21:24 Esprit de corps means we're all going in the same direction, but there is a clear delineation
00:21:30 of who the authority is, who the boss is.
00:21:34 But yet it's not a dictatorial role.
00:21:37 Damon Arnett would have never been a wasted pick by the Las Vegas Raiders had there been
00:21:44 some delineation.
00:21:45 But there wasn't.
00:21:48 It was, that's the guy I want.
00:21:52 There was no esprit de corps.
00:21:53 It was, this is who I want.
00:21:55 This is who I'm getting, not a collective.
00:22:00 Now in an esprit de corps, which is a Marine Corps term, but in a continuity of thought,
00:22:09 you want that because you want to be able to, everybody puts their opinion out there.
00:22:16 Everybody's heard.
00:22:18 So a coach who can clearly articulate, "Hey, this is why I want this guy.
00:22:23 I coached him X, Y, and Z.
00:22:25 He doesn't have the stats of the guy you like, but here's what I know about him that you
00:22:29 don't.
00:22:30 I'll give you a great one."
00:22:31 Ron Wolfe is general manager of the Green Bay Packers.
00:22:39 He was familiar with Brett Favre.
00:22:41 He had scouted Brett Favre.
00:22:43 He had seen Brett Favre.
00:22:45 He knew that Brett Favre threw some interceptions, but he knew he was a gunslinger.
00:22:49 He knew he was a winner.
00:22:52 There were people in Green Bay that did not want Brett Favre.
00:22:55 Who's this kid?
00:22:59 Okay.
00:23:00 So he presents to the organization, "Hey, this is why we want Brett Favre."
00:23:07 The organization listened to Ron.
00:23:08 They respected Ron.
00:23:09 They said, "Okay, he comes in, fails a physical, but Ron says, 'I don't care.
00:23:17 Pass him.
00:23:18 He's our guy.'"
00:23:19 Now, would anyone argue, even if you don't like Brett Favre, would anyone argue that
00:23:23 the Packers weren't better for having Brett Favre?
00:23:26 Why?
00:23:27 Because he was the leader who was able to present.
00:23:30 Everyone got on board, and he brings in Brett Favre.
00:23:33 That is my whole sentiment.
00:23:35 Listen, Ed Dodds is a highly respected man.
00:23:40 Champ Kelly is incredibly respected.
00:23:45 I believe, in talking to people around the league, Champ is more respected than Dodds,
00:23:51 but it's not like Dodds is a bad pick.
00:23:54 I'm not even remotely saying that.
00:23:56 He'd be a good pick.
00:24:00 But when you pick your general manager first, then you make the statement of, "This is our
00:24:08 flow chart.
00:24:10 This is my coach."
00:24:11 Listen, I respect Mark Davis.
00:24:15 He doesn't give a rip what I think.
00:24:17 He doesn't give a rip what you think, and he shouldn't.
00:24:20 It's his team.
00:24:24 But I don't care if Mark picks the coach.
00:24:27 If you're empowering the GM, and I do believe in this hire, they're going away from the
00:24:34 Gruden, Mayock, Ziegler, McDaniels route, and they want a strong general manager, then
00:24:43 you want your guy to be able to say, "This is my guy.
00:24:48 I don't want to be here in two years or three years looking for a new coach.
00:24:52 This is my guy."
00:24:53 And I can tell you at the time of this taping, no GM had been picked.
00:25:04 And so you want to make sure you have that.
00:25:08 That's why I think it's so important.
00:25:11 You want to know, "This is the guy."
00:25:13 Hey, if you're a general manager that doesn't listen to your coach, you're a fool.
00:25:21 But if you have a coach that's telling his general manager what to do, and you look at
00:25:25 the track record of how that's worked in the NFL, and only one guy did it, and oh, by the
00:25:29 way, he had Tom Brady, then you're making a poor decision, which is what we see in the
00:25:37 last two regimes for the Raiders.
00:25:41 So that was why.
00:25:44 Listen, if I'm Mark Davis, I clearly wanted AP, but this hire should have been done by
00:25:51 now.
00:25:52 Talk about for the GM, should have been done by now.
00:25:56 Okay, you've interviewed Dodge, you know Champ, he's been in the chair.
00:26:01 If you decided you can't agree on either one of them, well, who's making the decision?
00:26:06 That's Mark.
00:26:07 Well, but this is my committee.
00:26:11 Okay, you know what a committee is?
00:26:15 I tell people this all the time.
00:26:16 You know what a camel is?
00:26:21 It's a mouse designed by a committee.
00:26:23 Hey, you can bring all these people in and get their opinions, but at the end of the
00:26:26 day, you're the owner, you got to pick your guy that you trust to run your team, and you
00:26:31 go with it.
00:26:34 And you go with it.
00:26:36 Now, I still expect Champ to get it.
00:26:38 I still think it's a no-brainer.
00:26:40 He's been in the chair.
00:26:43 You know what he's done the whole time.
00:26:44 I love it when people say, "What has Champ Kelly done?"
00:26:49 Okay, okay.
00:26:51 We've talked about an ad nauseum.
00:26:52 You just don't want him to get it, so you're trying to be argumentative and cantankerous.
00:26:56 That's fine.
00:26:57 Go somewhere else and argue.
00:26:59 If you want to argue about Champ Kelly's resume, then clearly you haven't spent any time at
00:27:07 all studying or listening, because we've delineated it multiple times.
00:27:14 You just want to hear yourself talk.
00:27:16 I can't tell you how many times people will comment on one of the podcasts and I'll be
00:27:20 like, "I just addressed it in this podcast that you're commenting on.
00:27:24 Try listening."
00:27:25 Same point.
00:27:27 And Mark trusted his gut in getting rid of Josh.
00:27:34 And I think sometimes you can get too many people in your ear.
00:27:38 It's the same reason I say why you need a GM to be strong.
00:27:43 He should listen to everybody and make the call.
00:27:48 So I would expect, and this is purely speculation, this is not reporting, I can't imagine this
00:27:56 going...
00:27:57 I mean, I can't imagine it's gone this long, to be very frank with you.
00:28:01 It is unnecessary that it went this long.
00:28:04 So I can't even expect it to go past Tuesday.
00:28:08 They're not going to make an announcement before the games today and upstart the games.
00:28:13 And if that would not go over well with the NFL, and Mark Davis has proven that he wants
00:28:17 to get along with the NFL.
00:28:22 So an announcement could come...
00:28:25 I mean, if it comes Sunday night after the games, you miss a big opportunity for your
00:28:29 franchise to get as much momentum, just like when AP came out.
00:28:33 It was a big miss based on the time of day.
00:28:37 And there was a lot of excitement in the Raider Nation, but it could have been much bigger
00:28:43 and gotten much more national attention had it been timed differently.
00:28:47 I would expect it would come Monday, could be Tuesday at the latest, but that's my expectation.
00:28:55 But again, at the time of this taping, nothing has been decided and you make your decision
00:29:01 and you go.
00:29:04 Someone said to me, "Would you give us your assessment of who you think should get the
00:29:10 job?"
00:29:11 Well, that's what I've been doing for weeks with Champ.
00:29:14 But that someone said, "Why do you hate Dotz?"
00:29:17 Which makes no sense to me.
00:29:18 I don't hate the guy at all.
00:29:19 First of all, I don't know him.
00:29:20 How do you hate somebody you don't know?
00:29:21 Number two, I'm not a hater.
00:29:22 And number three, he's very well respected, tremendously respected.
00:29:27 He's good at his job.
00:29:29 Now I believe, let's go back to the coaching situation, Jim Harbaugh.
00:29:36 And I laugh because people will say, "Hondo doesn't like Harbaugh because he's a Spartan
00:29:39 and Harbaugh's a Wolverine."
00:29:41 Then you don't know me.
00:29:42 I like Jimmy a lot.
00:29:44 He's a great coach, great coach.
00:29:47 I said multiple times, 31 of the 32 franchises, if you needed a coach, Jim Harbaugh's the
00:29:54 call that you make.
00:29:57 If I'm Carolina today, I call Jim Harbaugh and say, "Listen, we're a mess.
00:30:06 Come fix it."
00:30:09 If I'm Atlanta and I have a choice between Belichick and Harbaugh, it's not even a choice.
00:30:17 You make Harbaugh the pick.
00:30:20 If I'm the Chargers, I go pick Patrick Graham.
00:30:26 Patrick Graham would be my guy for several reasons.
00:30:32 But I think he, now they're going into salary cap hell.
00:30:36 They're going to have to dump a lot and Patrick's going to have to learn.
00:30:43 And so I think you come and say, "Listen, it's going to be a few tough years, but we
00:30:47 believe in you.
00:30:48 During those tough years, you're going to learn through the maturation scale about being
00:30:53 a head coach, but we're going to ride this out with you."
00:30:57 And you give Patrick Graham a five-year deal and you ride it out.
00:31:01 I think at the end of five years, Patrick Graham would have that team in super competitive
00:31:04 and in a great position.
00:31:06 So I guess for 30 of the teams, I would take Harbaugh, but AP was the clear choice with
00:31:13 the Raiders.
00:31:14 It's the same situation.
00:31:16 Dodds is tremendously good at what he does.
00:31:21 If Mark Davis ended up hiring him, there's nothing you could say about Ed Dodds to be
00:31:26 critical other than champ's been in the chair.
00:31:29 We already know what he's done in a GM role.
00:31:34 We also know what he's done revamping the entire scouting system here.
00:31:39 We also know all the things he's done.
00:31:42 So he's better for this job.
00:31:44 Now, I think because he has more experience in the chair than Dodds, if you're the other
00:31:50 32 teams looking for a general manager and your choice is champ or Dodds, that you'd
00:31:55 go with champ because he has more experience in the chair, but either one would be a great
00:32:01 option.
00:32:03 Now, so we're just waiting to see what happens there.
00:32:07 And I hope that was a fair explanation to you of why I like that difference between
00:32:16 a GM, why I like that difference between a coach and a GM.
00:32:26 We know that champ already picked AP.
00:32:32 So there is that harmony.
00:32:35 We also know that AP has tremendous respect for him and he should and just how the whole
00:32:41 thing works out.
00:32:44 To me, it just is a perfect match for the Raiders moving forward.
00:32:48 Okay, now I want to get to AP.
00:32:51 Many of you are aware of this, but we've grown so much that some of you may not be aware.
00:32:59 I have a rule with new coaches.
00:33:03 First of all, to me in the NFL, there are some franchises that you go get a coordinator
00:33:13 with no head coaching experience.
00:33:17 But there are certain blue blood franchises, blue trip franchises like the Raiders, where
00:33:26 I don't think this is a place you come and learn how to coach.
00:33:29 So if I was Mark Davis, I would never hire a coach with no head coaching experience.
00:33:33 Now hear me out.
00:33:36 AP gets the job on an interim level.
00:33:41 So he got to learn a lot of those things.
00:33:47 So because he was already here in an interim level, he now has head coaching experience.
00:33:52 That's why I supported him.
00:33:56 Now I have said this multiple times, when a new coach comes in, I give that coach 20
00:34:04 games.
00:34:05 Now here's why.
00:34:06 17 games is a season.
00:34:09 And that allows you to be three games into their next year after they've had a couple
00:34:15 of drafts, they've had an offseason picking their own free agents of who they want to
00:34:19 pick and play.
00:34:22 Until I start to really nitpick.
00:34:25 And I've had multiple people ask me, with AP, do you just, because he's already has
00:34:32 nine games, do you already now only give them 11 before you do that?
00:34:37 No, he's going to get 20 because he came in with no training camp, no OTAs, no mini camps,
00:34:43 no draft after the trade deadline.
00:34:50 Now as you can tell by my figure, my wife is a tremendous cook.
00:34:56 My mother-in-law is unbelievable cook.
00:35:06 So leaving my mother-in-law out of this conversation, it's like going into a refrigerator and you've
00:35:13 got a thing of mustard, bottle of horseradish, and some expired hot dogs.
00:35:24 And somebody tells you to make a gourmet meal out of that.
00:35:29 My mother-in-law could, trust me.
00:35:31 My wife, she'd give good effort.
00:35:35 But most humans couldn't do anything.
00:35:37 I couldn't, horrible cook.
00:35:42 When you inherit a coach, I mean, put an interim coach in, no trade deadline, no OTAs, no mini
00:35:48 camps, stuck with the staff, which he would not have kept all the staff.
00:35:53 And I've told you that I was going to be let go.
00:35:56 And you know that now.
00:36:00 But when you do all of that, he has no chance to mold the team.
00:36:05 He's just doing his best to keep it between the lines.
00:36:10 We got 15 inches of snow the other night and I'm in my truck and it's four wheel drive.
00:36:17 But even if it's four wheel drive, still got ice and snow and you're trying to just keep
00:36:23 it between the lines.
00:36:24 That's what AP did.
00:36:25 That's why the job that AP and Champ did last year was so phenomenal.
00:36:32 No OTAs, no mini camps, no training camp, no trade deadline.
00:36:36 I'm past the trade deadline.
00:36:37 They just willed that team to five and four.
00:36:44 So he's going to get 20 games from me.
00:36:48 In that 20 games, let me tell you what's going to happen with AP.
00:36:51 He going to make some rookie coach mistakes.
00:36:55 And you just understand that's part of the learning curve.
00:37:00 You guys know this.
00:37:01 When a rookie comes in, I offer an immense amount of grace.
00:37:07 How many people five weeks into the year were calling Tyree Wilson a bust?
00:37:16 Then the last part of the season, he was one of the best young defensive linemen in the
00:37:21 National Football League.
00:37:24 You can how many people call Aiden O'Connell a bust?
00:37:27 Perennial backup, terrible.
00:37:29 He sucks.
00:37:34 We don't know if he's the next Ken Stabler.
00:37:39 We do know he doesn't suck.
00:37:43 He ran the offense that they wanted him to run.
00:37:48 Hey, we don't want you to take this risk.
00:37:52 We're going to punt and let our defense stop everybody.
00:37:57 Okay?
00:37:58 He sucks.
00:38:01 Okay.
00:38:03 There's going to be rookie mistakes.
00:38:05 So when you have a rookie, okay, let's go back to Aiden's first start at Los Angeles.
00:38:14 Josh McDaniels changed nothing in the offense.
00:38:17 This is our offense.
00:38:18 We're sticking with it.
00:38:20 He looked terrible.
00:38:22 Okay.
00:38:24 So did Jimmy Garoppolo and others, because the Raiders didn't have the personnel to do
00:38:29 what Josh wanted.
00:38:32 And then you were asking a rookie to do things that the veterans couldn't do.
00:38:38 Well, Aiden sucks.
00:38:40 No, Aiden didn't suck.
00:38:44 You didn't put a scheme around your player that worked for your player.
00:38:47 How different was he when he was put in a scheme that fit him?
00:38:55 Did he look like Brett Favre?
00:38:56 No.
00:38:57 Did he look like Patrick Mahomes?
00:38:59 No.
00:39:01 Did he look like Tom Brady?
00:39:04 No.
00:39:06 But you're telling me Aiden O'Connell, the last games of the year, looked like Aiden
00:39:15 O'Connell in LA?
00:39:17 Come on now.
00:39:18 Come on.
00:39:19 You're smarter than that.
00:39:20 That don't take a donkey brain at midnight and old Tim Barton to figure that out.
00:39:24 Come on now.
00:39:26 He's not that guy.
00:39:27 Now, we don't know that he's QB1, and I've said I'd go draft a quarterback.
00:39:34 You want there to be competition.
00:39:37 But man, you've got to give.
00:39:40 So rookie year, the second year, you want to see players start to get more reps, play
00:39:49 more.
00:39:50 And then third year is what is known in the NFL as the money year.
00:39:55 That's when players need to be establishing themselves.
00:39:59 So let's go back and look at Malcolm Coons.
00:40:01 His first year, I mean, I remember when he was drafted, I talked to you about the way
00:40:06 he bent his body and the way he moved his body really showed potential for the kid.
00:40:13 But he was making the step from Buffalo, which is a Mac school, come into the NFL.
00:40:17 That is a huge step.
00:40:21 Okay.
00:40:23 In the first year, we saw some signs.
00:40:27 Year two, you saw some signs, but you saw some growing pains.
00:40:35 And coming into this year, I told you, this is the money year for Coons.
00:40:37 And you can go back and read this and watch videos.
00:40:41 This is what I said.
00:40:42 I believe in him.
00:40:45 I think he has the potential to be really good, but this is the money year.
00:40:51 And what did you see?
00:40:54 That last two thirds of the season, that last half of the season, man, Malcolm Coons came
00:41:00 on.
00:41:01 Good night, Irene.
00:41:04 Money year.
00:41:05 Why?
00:41:06 Because now going into next year, huge expectations on him.
00:41:10 Him and Max could be the best bookend defensive ends in the NFL.
00:41:17 And he proved this year in his money year, he's entrusted to that spot.
00:41:25 And next year he goes and gets his big extension and makes a lot of money because he proved
00:41:30 it.
00:41:31 If he hadn't have done that this year, then you know, all right, we're going to keep around
00:41:34 for one more year as a body, but we're moving on from him.
00:41:39 That wasn't the case with him.
00:41:42 And so when you get to the third year is when I expect the most out of a player.
00:41:46 That's like Tyree.
00:41:48 I think Tyree showed us a lot more than Malcolm did his rookie year and where he was picked
00:41:52 and paid, he showed up.
00:41:55 But he's going to keep coming.
00:41:57 That youngster has a lot of flash.
00:41:59 So back to AP, I give him 20 games, 20 games.
00:42:04 He's going to learn more.
00:42:05 And when he makes a mistake, I'll point out, so that's a rookie coach mistake.
00:42:10 But you understand that my son, Dexter is 18 months old.
00:42:17 And when my son, Shane or Noah, who are both adults come over to my house, I don't pick
00:42:26 up my coffee and put it at a higher place.
00:42:29 Why?
00:42:30 Because they're not going to come over playing and grab the coffee and spill it on themselves.
00:42:36 They're old.
00:42:40 But when Dexter's around, I put my coffee up at a place he can't reach.
00:42:45 Why?
00:42:46 Because he's 18 months old.
00:42:47 I have different expectations of him than I do when Shane and Noah are here or my other
00:42:51 children.
00:42:52 I'm just using Shane and Noah as an example.
00:42:55 So I'll say, hey, pick your coffee up.
00:43:00 I say this because my son, Noah, a couple of weeks ago, he came over to play cards and
00:43:05 have dinner.
00:43:06 And I told Noah, I said, hey, remember your little brother, put your thing up.
00:43:12 He goes, oh, OK.
00:43:13 And he picks his drink up.
00:43:16 You point those things out.
00:43:19 But when rookie mistakes are made, you just say, hey, that's a rookie mistake by a coach.
00:43:23 He'll be fine.
00:43:24 Or hey, that's a player the coach hasn't had a chance to upgrade at.
00:43:30 You show him grace.
00:43:31 And after 20 games, then you can start to be more specific and critical.
00:43:35 But AP is going to get those 20 games from me.
00:43:39 Starting in week one.
00:43:42 And I'm telling you right now, there's going to be some mistakes.
00:43:50 But there's going to be more success than mistakes.
00:43:55 And you grow as a franchise.
00:43:57 And you grow as a team with him.
00:44:03 And I think the sky is very bright.
00:44:10 This is a good day for you Raider guys and gals.
00:44:14 This is a good day for you.
00:44:16 You guys know this.
00:44:17 My wife now has written since they hired AP, she is all in.
00:44:21 She's all Raiders.
00:44:25 And every day, she's coming up four or five times a day.
00:44:28 Did we hire a champ yet?
00:44:29 No.
00:44:30 And I said, what is this we?
00:44:32 This isn't Green Bay.
00:44:33 You don't know the team.
00:44:34 She'll say, shut up.
00:44:35 I'm a fan.
00:44:36 Did we hire a champ?
00:44:37 No, we haven't.
00:44:38 I said, we haven't.
00:44:39 Talking about her.
00:44:40 And she laughs.
00:44:44 And I addressed one other thing yesterday that I think is really important.
00:44:51 If you watch the games yesterday, two really, really good football games, you know, different.
00:44:59 But I still thought they were good games.
00:45:00 And there's going to be some really good games on today.
00:45:03 Well, I guess depending on when you watch it.
00:45:06 But if you get a chance, watch those.
00:45:10 Watch those games.
00:45:12 Be very analytical watching those games.
00:45:17 You guys now have an entire offseason, six months.
00:45:24 Six months.
00:45:27 You ended the season.
00:45:31 You beat the Broncos twice, which is, well, they've never beaten the Las Vegas Raiders.
00:45:42 You beat the Bolts at home.
00:45:47 Would have beaten them in LA had AP been the coach.
00:45:50 I have no doubt with that.
00:45:54 And you beat the Chiefs in their place.
00:45:56 Oh, by the way, on Christmas.
00:46:01 Five and four.
00:46:03 If you had somehow won one other game, you would have been in the playoffs, dismissed
00:46:11 it.
00:46:12 But you're ascending.
00:46:14 Now CBS Sports released something and I want to credit them.
00:46:23 I want to credit them because it's their information.
00:46:29 The Raiders winningest head coaches in the last 35 years.
00:46:35 Hugh Jackson was eight and eight.
00:46:39 He had a winning percentage of 500.
00:46:43 John Gruden was 60 and 57.
00:46:46 He had a winning percentage of 513.
00:46:49 I heard show was 56 and 52.
00:46:52 He had a winning percentage of 519.
00:46:56 Rich Versace, five and four.
00:47:00 Excuse me.
00:47:04 Antonio Pierce, five and four, had a winning percentage of 556, second highest in the last
00:47:10 35 years.
00:47:12 Rich Versace, seven and five.
00:47:14 583 was his winning percentage, the highest in the last 35 years.
00:47:19 Y'all haven't had a whole lot to cheer about in 35 years.
00:47:26 Just haven't.
00:47:28 You had two coaches that take you to a playoff, both get fired.
00:47:34 There's been a moving of the franchise.
00:47:37 There's just been a lot of turmoil in your franchise.
00:47:45 Now you got an off season.
00:47:50 Take a deep breath.
00:47:53 You got your coach that understands your culture, that understands who you are, that's bringing
00:48:00 toughness.
00:48:03 There's a song by a young man who's an actor.
00:48:10 I think he sang in the group New Kids on the Block, where he talks about, "I'm bringing
00:48:15 sexy back."
00:48:16 I don't remember who the guy was, but I remember that song.
00:48:21 I remember that song for a funny reason, not a bad reason, just a funny reason that you
00:48:29 don't care about.
00:48:30 But you got a coach now riding in his 6'4" Impala, wearing his all blacked out Nike's,
00:48:40 who's bringing Raider back.
00:48:44 I think that's going to be fun.
00:48:47 I love the game of football, so I'm looking forward to watching it.
00:48:51 I'm looking forward to watching what AP does.
00:48:53 He's a good man.
00:48:56 I love to watch good people succeed.
00:48:57 I think it's going to be fun to see what he brings back resonate with all of you.
00:49:05 So enjoy this.
00:49:08 In 35 years, you haven't had a whole lot of peace.
00:49:12 You do now.
00:49:14 Would I have handled the GM thing differently?
00:49:16 100%.
00:49:17 But it's not like it's the end of the world that they're going to announce the GM after
00:49:21 the coach.
00:49:22 It's not the end of the world.
00:49:25 But enjoy this time now.
00:49:29 There's going to be big coaching changes coming.
00:49:31 Some of them have already been out there.
00:49:35 I'm not going to get into any of those.
00:49:38 After the coaching change, I'll get into all of those.
00:49:44 I'm going to get into names.
00:49:45 I am hearing names.
00:49:46 I've been hearing names for a while.
00:49:50 I think there are some people that AP has locked in on and who he wants to add to his
00:49:57 staff.
00:49:58 I know there's a lot of guys that want to come here.
00:50:00 And so he is going to be very careful.
00:50:06 He's going to have a very experienced staff.
00:50:10 Now, some, their experience may come on the field.
00:50:16 They may not be the most experienced coaches.
00:50:18 Like AP is not the most experienced coach in the world.
00:50:21 Put his resume next to Belichick.
00:50:25 No comparison.
00:50:26 But he's going to have people that know the game, that get the game.
00:50:32 You're going to have a wonderful mixture.
00:50:37 But for right now, I want to keep the focus of where it is.
00:50:40 We're talking about AP who's here.
00:50:42 We're going to look at the general manager search.
00:50:45 We're going to get into all the coaches and stuff.
00:50:47 I can tell you there are a lot of really good names that you're going to recognize.
00:50:52 You're going to be able to say, man, I like that guy's football acumen.
00:50:56 I like the way that person thinks about the game of football.
00:51:01 I think you guys are going to be really impressed.
00:51:03 And if you're being fair, if you're being fair, there's not a whole lot AP hasn't done
00:51:10 that hasn't impressed you.
00:51:14 And I don't think there's any reason to doubt him.
00:51:18 I've had a couple people ask me, do you feel like bringing Marvin Lewis on staff is just
00:51:24 throwing up a retread?
00:51:27 No.
00:51:29 No.
00:51:31 Marvin Lewis is a great coach.
00:51:35 I can tell you there were a lot of people that felt like, you know, first of all, when
00:51:43 you look at what he did in the Natty with an ownership group that is perennially cheap
00:51:51 and perennially questioned, and I don't mean question from an integrity standpoint, just
00:52:00 question from a football IQ sentiment, what he did in the Natty was incredible.
00:52:10 Incredible.
00:52:12 Marvin Lewis is not a good coach.
00:52:15 Marvin Lewis is a great coach.
00:52:17 And by the way, great guy.
00:52:22 Great, great guy.
00:52:26 I can tell you years ago, I pushed hard to get him hired at Michigan State.
00:52:36 And he ended up at the Natty.
00:52:40 So good for him.
00:52:41 He could have coached in the NFL before going to college then as well.
00:52:46 But he's a great coach.
00:52:49 I think that was a smart hire.
00:52:52 And again, it shows AP's ability to say he isn't up there an egomaniac.
00:52:59 Man, I'm a Super Bowl.
00:53:02 I'm from Compton.
00:53:03 I'm a Raider.
00:53:04 I know every, no, no, no, no, no.
00:53:05 It's hey, I'm a Raider and we're committed to winning.
00:53:09 It's not a commitment to ego.
00:53:11 It's a commitment to excellence.
00:53:14 I'm going to bring people in who know what I don't, who I trust.
00:53:20 That is, that should excite you.
00:53:22 I was stunned at the amount of people being critical of AP for that.
00:53:26 I was stunned.
00:53:29 So that's where we sit today.
00:53:31 No decision has been yet made.
00:53:34 There is a group who would like Dodds.
00:53:38 There's a group that would like Champ Kelly.
00:53:42 That's where the Raiders sit.
00:53:46 I did not expect it to go this long.
00:53:49 And I'll be stunned if it goes past Tuesday.
00:53:52 Doesn't mean it won't.
00:53:53 I'll just be stunned.
00:53:55 And the Raiders, you know, Champ Kelly continues.
00:53:59 He's in the chair.
00:54:01 So he's looking at guys that they can add to futures contracts.
00:54:03 Him and his staff are still scouting players, still planning and working towards the draft.
00:54:11 So if he gets the job, even though I don't like the timing, you're not losing anything.
00:54:19 And if he doesn't get the job, then I'm going to be super critical.
00:54:22 Why didn't you pull the trigger before to give your new general manager more time to
00:54:25 get ready?
00:54:26 Time is vital right now.
00:54:28 There are hundreds of prospects.
00:54:30 Hundreds.
00:54:32 And let's assume it's Dodds.
00:54:40 Indianapolis runs a different system than the Raiders.
00:54:43 So even though he may have been evaluating players for their draft, now you got to come,
00:54:48 you got to sit down with AP, where you got to learn everything that he does, how he does
00:54:52 it, how he wants it.
00:54:53 Then you've got to start asking, okay, what kind of players do I want to fit this system?
00:54:58 Or am I going to try to get my coach to change?
00:55:00 I mean, if you're not going with Champ Kelly, then shame on you for not having it done.
00:55:06 If you're going with Champ Kelly, still should have done it sooner, but okay, whatever.
00:55:12 He's in there working every day in the chair and doing a darn good job.
00:55:15 So that's where the Raiders are today.
00:55:17 I hope you enjoy some great football today.
00:55:20 I hope you get to sit back and enjoy it.
00:55:23 And I hope these next six months, I got to tell you this.
00:55:28 So very, very quickly, I had so many people offer to give me cigars after wins for the
00:55:38 Raiders and listen, I am very highly allergic.
00:55:41 So years ago when I was born, my parents were smokers and I was born 71.
00:55:50 And so they did not understand for several years.
00:55:57 They did not understand.
00:55:58 They thought I was antisocial, whatever.
00:56:01 And because when I would be around smoke, now, obviously I was a little baby.
00:56:06 I don't remember this, but my mom and dad would say I would crawl out of the room or
00:56:10 I would crawl over and try to get away from people.
00:56:14 And they thought I was antisocial.
00:56:17 So they take me to the doctor and they're trying to figure out what's wrong.
00:56:19 And they're like, no, I don't think he's antisocial.
00:56:21 The doctor like, look at, he hugs me.
00:56:24 And they brought a nurse in.
00:56:25 I remember, I don't remember any of this.
00:56:26 I was little and I hugged her.
00:56:28 I don't think he's antisocial.
00:56:30 So then they said, you know, maybe he's getting sick.
00:56:32 And they did a bunch of studies and tests.
00:56:34 Well, eventually they found out I was allergic to tobacco smoke.
00:56:39 I was allergic to most smoke.
00:56:43 I'm an outdoors, I love campfires, but I have to be super careful even around campfires.
00:56:48 And so that's not me.
00:56:52 I'm not a cigar smoker.
00:56:53 I don't smoke.
00:56:54 I never have.
00:56:57 But I had people trying to send me cigars and I'm like, no, it's not me.
00:57:01 And I got a laugh because so many of you sent me pictures of smoking a victory cigar when
00:57:08 AP got the job.
00:57:09 And I just thought that was fun.
00:57:11 So again, to all of you who offered to send me cigars, I'm not a fan.
00:57:15 I'm not going to be smoking cigars, celebrating anything, but that's not what I do.
00:57:19 But there was a real medical, and by the way, this will make you laugh.
00:57:23 This is how they found out.
00:57:24 And they started to do the study and found out my allergy was to smoke.
00:57:31 Was the doctor lit up.
00:57:34 That's how old I am.
00:57:36 And I tried to crawl away.
00:57:39 And they're like, see, see, see that what he does.
00:57:41 That's what he does.
00:57:42 And they come to find out.
00:57:45 That's how they found out that I was allergic to cigarette smoke really bad.
00:57:48 So thank you for all the offers.
00:57:52 I appreciate it.
00:57:53 You enjoy them.
00:57:54 You guys have a good time.
00:57:56 And I appreciate y'all.
00:57:58 I will tell you, I got an email yesterday.
00:58:00 Someone in the organization said to me, you got to wear AP wears these black Nikes and
00:58:12 they're all black.
00:58:14 And I don't know what they call their, like I wear Jordans and Q Myers from Raider Nation
00:58:21 radio and Paul Gutierrez from ESPN.
00:58:25 They talk about a particular Nike shoe.
00:58:28 So I just bought a pair of those.
00:58:30 That's not a Jordan, which I only wear Jordans until I bought these.
00:58:34 But he wears a particular pair of they're all black.
00:58:38 And someone's like, hey, I know you're not a fan and you don't wear Raider gear, which
00:58:43 I will next week because I promised you a hoodie if AP got the job.
00:58:50 But somebody said, would you wear a pair of these?
00:58:53 I said, there's no need for you to buy me a pair of shoes.
00:58:55 I don't want a pair of shoes.
00:58:56 You don't need to do it.
00:58:57 Would you wear them?
00:58:58 I said, as long as they don't say Raider, I would.
00:58:59 I'm not going to turn on a free pair of shoes.
00:59:01 So I got an email yesterday.
00:59:02 I'll show them to you when I get them.
00:59:05 I wear between a 14 and a 15 size shoe.
00:59:08 And so I got a pair coming that are all black.
00:59:12 So they don't say Raider, so I'm good.
00:59:13 I'll wear them.
00:59:14 But I'll make sure I show them to you.
00:59:15 But enjoy this time right now, Raider Nation.
00:59:18 This is a good time for you to be a Raider.
00:59:21 Your organization's getting a ton of great publicity, which has not happened in a long
00:59:27 time.
00:59:28 A long time.
00:59:30 I can't tell you the number of Raider interviews I have done all over the country.
00:59:35 Podcast interviews.
00:59:37 Everybody wanted to talk about the Raiders.
00:59:39 Everybody wanted to talk about the Raiders.
00:59:43 And it's all positive.
00:59:46 Enjoy that.
00:59:47 Because that's not always been par for the course with the Raiders.
00:59:51 So I hope you enjoy that.
00:59:54 Thanks for joining me.
00:59:56 Look forward to talking to you again tomorrow.
00:59:58 Remember, check out all of our information when you go to si.com/NFL/Raiders.
01:00:03 Additionally, if you could, I think it would behoove you, at the top right-hand corner
01:00:10 is says Newsletter.
01:00:11 If you click on that and sign up, we don't sell your information and we don't spam you.
01:00:16 But three days a week, you'll get an email from us with our biggest and best stories.
01:00:22 We put up so much content.
01:00:23 The other day, I think we put up 15 stories.
01:00:26 Yesterday, I think we did nine.
01:00:29 I think we're going to do nine or 10 today.
01:00:31 But we put up so many stories, you may miss one.
01:00:35 So you don't want to miss any of those.
01:00:37 We'll get those sent to you.
01:00:38 Or you can follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HondoCarpenter.
01:00:41 You can also find me on IG @HondoSR.
01:00:44 Now, if you don't want to look at my face during a podcast, and I don't blame you.
01:00:49 Let's be honest.
01:00:50 I'm not an attractive man here.
01:00:52 I've got a gorgeous wife.
01:00:54 Not an attractive man.
01:00:55 I think any men are.
01:01:00 You can also listen to my podcast.
01:01:03 When you go to Spotify or Apple, you can find it there.
01:01:08 Additionally, each day, I do an additional audio-only podcast.
01:01:14 It never goes more than 10 minutes, but it's usually right around five.
01:01:19 It's just a quick tidbit of information.
01:01:21 I may just walk out of a practice, and I just record it.
01:01:25 It's called Riding with Hondo and Dexter.
01:01:29 Me and my son hanging out.
01:01:30 Usually I do it in the car.
01:01:31 Sometimes I do it in my office.
01:01:33 Sometimes I do it in the parking lot.
01:01:35 But wherever I am, if I get a quick call or have a nugget of information, I just stop,
01:01:39 tape it, and give it to you.
01:01:40 It's just a quick five to 10-minute podcast that I think you'll really, really enjoy.
01:01:45 From all of us to all of you, enjoy your off-season.
01:01:49 Let's hope that we get a puff of silver and black smoke coming out of the Intermountain
01:01:53 Healthcare Training Facility, where the Raiders' headquarters is, and the Raiders get their
01:01:58 GM picked and get to move the process forward.
01:02:01 I want to thank you for sharing part of your time with me.
01:02:03 I know that you don't have to.
01:02:06 I know that.
01:02:07 I'm not entitled to your time.
01:02:10 You share it with me.
01:02:13 And I don't take it for granted.
01:02:16 And I appreciate you.
01:02:17 We're praying for all of you.
01:02:18 Hope you have a tremendous day.
01:02:21 Enjoy.
01:02:22 Have a good day.
01:02:24 And relax and watch some football.
01:02:28 Enjoy your off-season, Raider Nation.
01:02:30 This one's for you.