New Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio is proving to be a very positive presence in the organization.
Though Oakland hasn’t had a winning season since 2002 and has to compete in the AFC West with the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers – all teams with recent playoff histories – Del Rio is being bold.
Recently, in a video on the team’s website, Del Rio told Raiders fans and former players at a gathering, “Goal No. 1 is to win our division, and I don’t see why not.”
Of course, Del Rio’s optimism isn’t matched by NFL observers outside the Raiders organization. They see the Raiders as better in 2015, but not good enough to go from 3-13 to a winning record, a division title or the playoffs.
In assessing the AFC West recently for Sports Illustrated, Don Banks wrote: “The AFC West is too tough for Oakland to climb out of the cellar just now, but six or seven wins seem well within reach for the re-tooled Raiders.”
And a poll on a Denver Broncos fan site posted this past weekend poked fun at the comment by Del Rio – the Broncos’ defensive coordinator in 2014 – by giving readers three options to the question, “Do you think the Raiders can win the AFC West?”: A)Yes, B) no and C) “Can’t vote because I’m laughing so hard.”
The winning answer, with 50 percent of the votes, was (of course), C.
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Del Rio has been joined in his optimism by others in silver and black. New offensive line coach Mike Tice – who’s been extremely outspoken in his enthusiasm for the upside of his group, joined Del Rio by saying, “We’re going to be a championship football team.”
Del Rio, also noted that, “We came back here to build this thing, back to where it belongs, which is great once again. I promise, when you go back into the stadium this fall, and you watch our team perform, that our team will play harder and (with) more sustained energy than anything you’ve seen.”
Of course, there is reason for optimism, with young players such as Khalil Mack, Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Latavius Murray.
But, realistically, winning the AFC West – from the vantage point of late July, just before the start of training camp – seems a long shot.
“In the time since their last playoff appearance, the Raiders have gone from Bill Callahan to Norv Turner to Art Shell to Lane Kiffin to Tom Cable to Hue Jackson to Dennis Allen to Tony Sparano as head coach,” wrote Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “All those coaches arrived with optimism that they’d be the ones to win in Oakland.
“Maybe Del Rio will finally be the coach who can actually turn things around.”
