Ken Norton Jr. leaves for the Raiders

[NorthHawk]

New DC in Oakland.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ordinator/

[Uppercut]

Sucks! Just hope Marshawn does not get an itch to go play in his hometown.

[c_hawkbob]

No surprise here either, GL in Oaktown Kenny.

[NorthHawk]

I guess we can surmise that it was a choice between Kris Richard and Ken Norton for our DC.
This might be a bigger hit than losing DQ.

[c_hawkbob]

I don't think so, I think it was going to be Kris the whole time. Ken even said he had no interest in being DC but I think that may have been because he saw he wasn't going to get the chance here anyway, and likely wanted to keep the door open to staying.

[Hawktawk]

Great players make for great coaches as much as the reverse is true. Its alright.

[HumanCockroach]

Great players make for great coaches as much as the reverse is true. Its alright.

Well, hopefully that isn't exclusive ( and it can't be) because Richard wasn't much of a player, and Norton Jr. Was.....

Norton is the guy I thought would fill that role best, and said so early this last season, but who knows. Not knocking Kris, just what I perceived earlier in the year.

[NorthHawk]

Two vacancies on the Defensive coaching side.
I expect some younger guys to end up in those positions (Secondary and Linebackers) as that seems to be Pete's methodology.
Most of the big name coaches have found homes and I wonder if they would want to learn things his way after being established as NFL coaches anyway.
If someone from the outside does end up here they might be from the Monte Kiffin coaching branch or at least have experience in it.

[Zorn76]

I wish Ken the best, and it sounds like to me he was ready for a new challenge anyway, and he certainly is going to have one by coaching with the Raiders.

[obiken]

I would have offered him the DC job. I don't care what people say this was a loss.

[RiverDog]

I would have offered him the DC job. I don't care what people say this was a loss.

Norton was a fantastic position coach. He sure did wonders for Bruce Irvin. If you go back and take a look at some of the players he's coached, back to his days at USC, it truly is impressive: Lofa, Clay Mathews, Brian Cushing, Ray Malaluga, Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright.

Whether or not that translates into a good coordinator is an open ended question. Pete obviously knew who he wanted, so you have to yield to his judgment. If there's anything Pete knows, it's defense. I also can't blame Norton for leaving and appreciate all that he's done for us.

[Hawktawk]

Great players make for great coaches as much as the reverse is true. Its alright.

Well, hopefully that isn't exclusive ( and it can't be) because Richard wasn't much of a player, and Norton Jr. Was.....

Norton is the guy I thought would fill that role best, and said so early this last season, but who knows. Not knocking Kris, just what I perceived earlier in the year.[/quote]

My thing in my 30's was golfing. I am in the industry so it was a natural progression. I was an ugly 8 handicap in my heyday, unpredictable off the tee but deadly around the green. So I was aight as a golfer. But my brother used to tell me I was a lot better teacher than a player.I quit helping him with his game when he started taking my money.Now I am a 30 handicap and cant play worth a damn or teach and it isn't fun...
Holmy was a mediocre college QB. Walsh?Marc Trestman? Hairball was OK but hes a Michigan man now and still crazy as batshart.I hear Carroll was a nasty SOB on the field which I can totally believe. But most coaches in the NFL were not stars.
Those who can do, those who cannot teach. Its kind of weird. Maybe they had to study harder to stay in the league and got a management perspective from the sidelines...

[HumanCockroach]

Norton will do well, much like Seattle, the HC( Del Rio) for all intents and purposes will be the defensive Coordinator, and Oakland does actually have a solid defensive team... I expect it will take him some time to get to where the allow him to run the whole thing, but overall, I feel like the loss of Norton while not catostrophic certainly is noteworthy...

Doesn't mean I don't think the coaches they brought in won't be good coaches, and as I said at the beginning of last season Norton was who I thought would get the job, but obviously Carroll felt like Richard was the better choice, and I have no issues with it.

Nortons job with this group is impressive, two unpolished players on the cusp of possible Pro Bowl considerations, and a MLB that has been named an All Pro, and was thought so highly of by Tony Dungy that he received an MVP vote as well. Not to mention his ability to get a suspect OLB to the point where he could win a SB MVP, a journey man LB that played in significant situations ( Farwell, Morgan) a UDFA Rookie to the point where he played significant minutes at MLB and not look lost, etc... Hell of a job by that guy.

[RiverDog]

Holmy was a mediocre college QB. Walsh?Marc Trestman? Hairball was OK but hes a Michigan man now and still crazy as batshart.I hear Carroll was a nasty SOB on the field which I can totally believe. But most coaches in the NFL were not stars.
Those who can do, those who cannot teach. Its kind of weird. Maybe they had to study harder to stay in the league and got a management perspective from the sidelines...

Holmgren was a backup to Joe Montana. He never won a starting QB position. Pete never suited up in an NFL locker room, never even got a tryout. Same thing with Bill Belichick. Hairball was a pretty fair quarterback, is in the Colt's Ring of Honor but never won a playoff game or played in a Pro Bowl. Even so, he is, or rather was, perhaps the NFL head coach with the most success as a player in recent memory.

[HumanCockroach]

There is guys Cowher comes to mind, Edwards, Reeves. I'm pretty sure if people went back they would see some players that had some success. Not sure it would be a large amount, but they are sprinkled throughout the NFL's history.. It does seem like a lot of those former players do better as coordinators instead of the HC, but I don't think Norton was in line for the big chair anyway.

[RiverDog]

There is guys Cowher comes to mind, Edwards, Reeves. I'm pretty sure if people went back they would see some players that had some success. Not sure it would be a large amount, but they are sprinkled throughout the NFL's history.. It does seem like a lot of those former players do better as coordinators instead of the HC, but I don't think Norton was in line for the big chair anyway.

You forgot Dick LeBeau, although I mentioned him in another thread. Perhaps the best combination of player/coach resumes in the history of the NFL. Tony Dungy is another name that just came to mind. He has a ring as both a player and a HC. Then there's Mike Ditka, again a guy with a ring as both player and HC.

[HumanCockroach]

Yeah, I saw Ditka and Lebeau on your other post so I didn't include them, I had Dungy listed originally in that post, but I wasn't sure if he had been a player that contributed a lot during his time in the NFL.

[NorthHawk]

As it seems that there was a choice between Norton and Richard, and Pete selected Richard, I wonder if Pete sees him as being his eventual successor here.
Maybe some day sooner than we think Pete might move upstairs when Richard shows he is ready.
It might be a good move from a coaching stability PoV when that time comes.

[RiverDog]

As it seems that there was a choice between Norton and Richard, and Pete selected Richard, I wonder if Pete sees him as being his eventual successor here.
Maybe some day sooner than we think Pete might move upstairs when Richard shows he is ready.
It might be a good move from a coaching stability PoV when that time comes.

I don't get the impression that Pete would like an office environment, and being that he's a California boy, I'll bet he moves back to someplace nice and sunny when he retires.