Since Jon Gruden joined the Raiders on a 10-year, $100 million deal to become the team’s head coach, bit by bit we saw signs he was calling shots. You could figure that would be the case with a contract like that, but only to the extent that you not allow yourself to be surprised when it happens.
Mark Davis even said that it was Gruden’s team to build the way he wanted and that McKenzie was tasked with finding a way to make it happen. A facilitator, as I have termed it.
“Jon’s the head coach and he’s going to be here a while, so it’s important that he gets the players he wants and builds a team he wants to build,” Davis said at the owner’s meetings in March.