After losing multiple assistants this offseason, the Raiders replenished Jon Gruden’s coaching staff on Thursday. Here’s the rundown, courtesy of The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Michael Gehlken.
Gruden actually fired former strength and conditioning coach, Tom Shaw, back in December. A.J. Neibel will be Oakland’s third such coach in as many seasons. This will be Neibel’s second stint with the Raiders. He was a sports medicine associate from 2003-08, according to the Raiders’ official website.
Defensive line coach Brentson Buckner has already made an impression for his old school approach. Running backs coach Kirby Wilson will replace Jemal Singleton, who followed former quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan to Cincinnati to join the Bengals. Wilson has 21 years of NFL experience and has been an RB coach for 26 seasons.
Assistant defensive backs coach Taver Johnson will help fill the void left by Derrick Ansley, and John Morton, pegged to be a senior offensive assistant, may take some of the duties left behind by Callahan. Johnson has been a collegiate coach, most recently with Ohio State. Morton knows his new head coach well — he was on Gruden’s staff with the Raiders from 1998-1999.
Gruden raved about his coaching staff last year, but some didn’t stick around for long. The 2018 season didn’t go as anyone planned, and that must include Gruden’s assistants. The Raiders’ top assistants, offensive coordinator Greg Olson, and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther have stuck around, however. Now that the Raiders are clearly rebuilding, everyone should be on the same page and able to forge ahead together.
