Former Green Bay Packers Director of Pro Personnel Reggie McKenzie is bringing a new attitude and some of the tactics he learned while in Green Bay to the Raiders.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Teams over the past decade have been known to throw money like confetti at any hyped prospect or free-agent, but recently a Green and Gold philosophy has inhabited an organization known to shred money like Nixon thugs – that team being the silver and black, the Oakland Raiders, under the guidance of one Reggie McKenzie.

Under former Packers Director of Pro Personnel Mckenzie, the team has abandoned the futile recklessness of former owner/general manager, Al Davis.

From former head coach Tom Cable knocking out assistants to senior executive John Herrera calling sportswriter Mike Silver a pot-smoker and challenging media members to a fight, the Raiders have been cursed, to say the least.

It must be one of those gypsy curses.

Ted Thompson’t influence on Raiders Reggie McKenzie has been important.
Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

JaMarcus Russell comes to mind as the biggest blunder in Davis’s reign. Instead of following then-head coach Lane Kiffin’s advice, Davis undercut his talented coach for a rocket-armed man-child with a penchant for stuffing his face with Devil-Dogs.

They eventually passed on the record-breaking wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Compounding the problem, Davis dragged his Oakland fans through a divorce more messy than a Kardashian’s.

Holding an unneeded press conference, Davis began by lambasting Kiffin, praising the failure of Russell, and ultimately torpedoing any prospect of interest for any player in the league to join his circus.

Unless they wanted to be overpaid.

Tommy Kelly, Javon Walker and Carson Palmer are all pieces who have come and gone with atrocious sums of money, leaving devastating craters from their presence. Kelly was an unmotivated mess, Walker had mentally and physically checked out, and Palmer … well … did not care in the first place.

Ask the Bengals ….

With head coach Hue Jackson being handpicked by Davis in 2011, and substituting the future for a bleak shot at the playoffs, the Raiders threw a first round pick for quarterback Palmer in 2011.

Davis had finally found stability in Bengals castoffs, but the kind that last for as long as a paper airplane in flight.

Passing away Oct. 8, 2011, as deviantly as he lived, Davis never realized the costly roll of the dice he put his team through.

Choking at the end of the season, the Raiders squandered their chance at the dance against the San Diego Chargers, 38-26.

Now the ominous cloud of indecision they had caught finally rained on the team. No Al, no playoffs and no future.

A change was in order.

Ever wonder what kind of experience it must have been working under the dominating force of Davis and subsequently carrying his legacy?

Matt Flynn, another product of the Green Bay Packers system, has been penciled in as the starter in Oakland.
Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Try being his son, Mark Davis.

Besides the horrible atrocities done to his own hair, beneath the lid contains a great passion to fix a team consistently drowning under its own rancor and with the assignment of Mckenzie the ability to reverse course is not far off.

Namely with quarterback Matt Flynn - another product of the Green Bay Packers system.

There has not been a competent quarterback in the Oakland area since Rich Gannon swept up the MVP in 2002, but now with Flynn known for his stable demeanor and execution, the Raiders finally have the franchise’s future set.

Under Packers’ GM Ted Thompson, McKenzie learned patience through the draft while cutting ties to destructive forces within the franchise.

Linebacker Ronaldo McClain was a perfect example of the Davis regime, by his constant insubordination to McKenzie’s coach Dennis Allen.

Instead of coddling the talent of McClain, (as Davis had been famous to do) the axe fell quickly and the shockwave effect has righted the wayward ship.

Another trait passed on from Thompson included the art of the draft. Rather than reach or overvalue talent, McKenzie traded his spot in the draft from the third overall pick, (to former Packers offensive coordinator-turned-Dolphins-Head-Coach, Joe Philbin) to the 12th overall pick and for talented defensive back, D.J. Hayden.

Wielding picks and refocusing attention toward team fundamentals has done wonders for the Green and Gold, and from the looks of it the Raiders might return to their legendary owners mantra.

“Just Win Baby.”

Reggie McKenzie

Peter King, Sports Illustrated’s football guru, released his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback posting where, in one segment, he has nothing but good things to say about former Green Bay Packers executive Reggie McKenzie.

The newly-hired Oakland Raiders’ general manager has a huge mountain to climb to bring the Raiders back to respectability and an even larger climb in getting the team back to playoff status.

But according to King, he feels that McKenzie is well on his way.

Here is a segment of King’s interview with McKenzie:

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie did a great job in Green Bay, so there’s no reason why he can’t do the same out West.

Here is the entire piece that King put together:

…we start out west, with one of those draft-pick-poor teams, and what the Oakland Raiders are doing about it.

The Raiders are actually doing things right, and Reggie McKenzie’s the reason why.

When the Raiders hired McKenzie as general manager in January, he took over a team with the most decimated draft board in recent history. No first-, second-, third-, fourth- or seventh-round picks because of prior trades or Supplemental Draft picks. McKenzie inherited a team that, in late February, was $26 million over the salary cap and had two draft choices — the 148th and 189th overall — before the annual compensatory picks were awarded. Think about it: An 18-year scout finally gets his chance to run a team and pick the players he wants … and he’s hamstrung by the worst cap situation in the league, and one of the worst draft-choice pools in NFL history. And one more thing: Peyton Manning just walked into his division.

“Never thought, ‘Woe is me,’ ” he said the other night from his office in Oakland. “Not once. Never thought I shouldn’t take the job because of things like that either. It never entered my mind. I just figured, ‘We’ll find players.’ I know how to find players. I’ve been in Green Bay when we found Mark Tauscher and Donald Driver late in drafts, and found Tramon Williams on the street, and signed Charles Woodson in free agency. It can be done.”

If McKenzie’s right, it will be done this year with low-cost free-agents starting at three positions (Shawntae Spencer and Ron Bartell at cornerback, Philip Wheeler at linebacker), and one well-paid (five years, $20 million) starting right guard, Mike Brisiel. Help also came in the form of three of the top 10 compensatory picks awarded last month in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Oakland’s first pick will be the first compensatory choice awarded by the NFL, the 95th overall choice, which means McKenzie will sit around all night Thursday on day one of the draft, and all night Friday through rounds two and three, till the end of the third round.

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie said he feels honored to be the first person in almost half a century other than Al Davis to be running the Raiders’ draft. “This is a new day in the Raider organization,” he said. “Coach Davis, he knew football. I relish the chance to follow him and get this team back where it belongs.”

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Joe Philbin is now the former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator, having accepted the head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

With the announcement last night that Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin will be taking the helm as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, huge decisions now face Packers coach Mike McCarthy about how to fill the vacancy and what other coaches and players may follow.

The announcement isn’t a shocker for the Packers given the fact that Philbin interviewed twice with the Dolphins and has certainly earned the right to become a head coach – helping to build and develop the Packers’ vaunted offense behind the play of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Philbin is ready to make the move. He’s been with the Packers for nearly 10 years and has earned his stripes. And without question, his move comes at the right time. Surely he enjoyed his time in Green Bay, but the loss of his son to drowning two weeks ago probably gives him good reason for a new venue for himself and his family. There’s something to say about getting a fresh start in a new situation.

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As it turns out, according to a tweet from Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the senior Wolf knew more than one would expect. It turns out that the younger Wolf will probably take over in Green Bay as the next head of pro personnel.

It should be a good fit for Wolf, who has been in Green Bay for a number of years.

@BobMcGinnBob McGinn

Could Packers executive Reggie McKenzie be headed to Oakland? Raymond T. Rivard photograph

With the news that Green Bay Packers executive Reggie McKenzie was interviewing today by the Oakland Raiders for a front office position, it becomes even more clear that success brings more success for those members of a coaching staff that is successful.

Talk not only about McKenzie being eyed by other teams is sure to extend to other coaches and executives now working for the Packers.

The question is how many will leave the successful program that they have helped build. No doubt there will be a few. But who will they be and how many?

Consider today’s poll …

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