Raiders coach Jack Del Rio sat down with reporters who regularly cover the team Thursday for an informal lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and then went on the record for about 20 minutes before getting back to work.



A transcription of Del Rio’s first comments with the Bay Area media since he was hired:

Q: You knew something about the team by preparing to play the Raiders, but what do you know now that you didn’t know the day of the press conference?

Del Rio: Well, we spent time as a staff going through our own players. The first order of business upon taking over is to get to know your own team, so we’ve spent, and we continue to spend time getting to know our own team, going through the cut-ups and viewing the season and grading them, and reaching out and contacting the players, a good percentage of our roster has had contact with the coaching staff. Getting a call, returning the call, coming through and saying hello. Getting to know the roster is a big part of what we’re doing right now. So I know them a lot better. I have a much better reference point, in terms of the makeup of the team and some of the things we need to do going forward.

Q: What do you see as your biggest need in terms of the roster?

Del Rio: I think the biggest thing, for us as a football team, is to develop the mentality. I don’t know that I would get into a specific position where you’d say, we’ve got to address this position. We’ll clearly increase the talent level, look to add to the talent level, but it’s important that we develop the players that are here. We’re going to create a competitive environment, where guys enjoy coming ot work, they come to work with great energy, and compete their tails off every day. And I think with that, the mentality that we’re looking for will be developed and built and this football team will change, will transform.

Q: In past coaching changes, several assistants have been retained. This is probably the biggest turnover the Raiders have ever had in terms of staff turnover. Was that something you set out to do in terms of changing attitudes and mindsets? That you wanted an entirely new coaching staff for this team to react to?

Del Rio: I didn’t really look at it like that. Several of the guys were cleared out before I got there. I did not speak directly with some of them. But I basically went through a very deliberate process and spent a lot of time and thought in putting together the makeup of the current staff. I think we’ve assembled a strong staff. A staff of really good teachers, a staff of really good people. I feel good about where we’ve ended up. I was not in a rush. It think the first time around as a head coach, I thought there might have been some kind of prize at the end of it if I got through in record time. I didn’t feel that pressure this time around. I really took the time to discern, to check references, to make sure it was a good fit.. The No. 1 thing was they were going to be loyal to me, and they were excited about being here in Oakland, being a part of this football team.

Q: You were with Maurice Jones-Drew through some of the best seasons of his career, now he’s coming off the worst. Where does he fit in?

Del Rio: Well, all the individual players that are currently on the roster. They’re being evaluated. That will be continuous. I think, regardless of who and what their standing is when they come in, they can all expect to be challenged and they can all expect to have competition. We’re going to create that. Maurice is a special young man. I loved the time that we had together in Jacksonville. He was one of the true Warriors that I had on the football field. He gave everything he had to the football team and I will expect the same kind of commitment from all of our players here in Oakland.

Q: Think he still has something left?

Del Rio: Yeah, he thinks he does. We talked about it. We need to find that out. It’s something we need to find out. He feels healthy. I think the first thing would be that he needs to keep his weight where it needs to be and he understands that. So he can be explosive again. We need to find out if he can be explosive again.

Q: Some talk about offense having some up-tempo, no-huddle elements to it. Are those wrinkles or something we see more predominantly that not? How will it fit in to what you do?

Del Rio: It will be something that we practice. How much we utilize it will depend on the game plan, the opponent, how the game unfolds. We will definitely have that aspect of attack. We’ll have that ability to attack people in that manner. Bill Musgrave has a wealth of knowledge, has been around a lot of good coaches, a lot of different schemes. We’re going to, as a staff, sit down and determine what the Raider way is. But I know that is an element that he brings to the table. I know he’s not the only coach on our staff that has experience in the put the pedal down operation. He’s not alone in that. We do have some people who have done that on the offense staff. It’s something we want to be able to do when we want to do it. We want to be able to go at different speeds. If we want to go fast, we’ll go fast. If we want to play in a no-huddle but a methodical pace we can do that. If we want to huddle and really milk it, we’ll know how to do that. So we’re going to know how to play at different speeds and decide and dictate to the defense what speed we want to play at.

Q: Have you talked to Derek Carr since you got the job and what have those conversations been like and from what you’ve seen of him on film, what is the natural progression for him?

Del Rio: I think it’s all been pretty general conversations. He’s a bright young man. He’s clearly the kind of guy that wants to roll up his sleeves and get to work. Everything that I learned about him in terms of investigating the players and determining the type of players they have been prior to getting here, everything has been really positive coming back. For us, we’re looking at him as a really good young player that we make sure we’re strong, not only that he’s strong and develops and does things, but that we’re strong around him. That we’re going to be able to run the ball, that we’re going to be able to put good players around him, and that his ability to be accurate and decisive will be something we can take advantage of.

Q: How critical for Derek to have a veteran quarterback, where is’ Schaub or someone else?

Del Rio: It’s ideal to have that, and if it works out that that is the case, then that would be good. It’s not something that has to be. It’s something that would be ideal for a young player, to have a veteran guy there that can help him as he prepares as a younger player. And really it’s good to have a room that’s strong and understands what it takes to prepare every day and that everybody in the room approaches it like they’re the guy and everybody works really hard at the process.

Q: Because of his background, older brother being a quarterback, maybe not as big a deal as for another young quarterback to have a veteran backup?

Del Rio: No, it’s just that you do what you can. There are things you’d like to have happen and you can’t always make it happen. We’ll see. That would be the ideal.

Q: You talked about how cutting edge you want to be, what other ways do you want to be cutting edge? Your approach to strength and conditioning appears to be a little unorthodox?

Del Rio: That’s probably the first place, when you asked that question that’s the first place my mind went was Joe Gomes and the staff that we hired. They were trained at API. Spent a lot of time there. The entire approach of conditioning and strengthening our players. The regeneration, the regenerative aspects of it, bringing guys back, making sure that they’re healthy. The core work, the stabilization, all those things are going to be big factors. I brought Luke Richardson with me to Jacksonville, I think, six years, seven years ago now, he was out of API. Kind of similar in that he hadn’t been in the NFL, a little bit of an unknown, and he was terrific for me in Jacksonville. John Fox brought him in to Denver, and we had him the last three years there. The things that they’re doing are thing we should be doing with our athletes. They’re cutting edge in terms of innovation, they’re cutting edge in terms of some of the things that we need to do with our football team to give them a chance to be their healthiest, its most fit and its ability to be at its peak on Sundays. The timing of bringing it all together will be to maximize what our players have. I think Luke did a great job. I think we’ve kind of gone back to that place and plucked a couple more guys out of there that are really talented, really bright. We’ve got some plans that you’ll see unfold in terms of what we’re doing with the weight room, doing with the fields, that players are going to be very excited about when they get back.

Q: What are most important things to get done before April 7 when strength program starts and players come back?

Del Rio: We’ll continue doing our work. You’re working on your own roster and understanding it. You’re working on system implementation. So we’ll sit down and make sure that what we’re going to do and what we’re going to be going forward that it fits the personnel that we have. Then we’ll start looking at available personnel, and potentially those that might be available in free agency, and build a plan along those lines, then we’lll start preparing for the draft. So all of this is kind of in play, and between now and April 7, we’ll have an awful lot of work to do, but we understand the task that’s in front of us and we’re just rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

Q: You fired Bill Musgrave once before. What about his experiences made him attractive this time?

Del Rio: Bill and I left on good terms. He’s a good man. So I think, since that time, he’s been a coordinator, he’s been a quarterback coach, he’s been exposed to systems, he’s done the power running game with Adrian Peterson. He’s been exposed to Chip Kelly and the “go fast” Oregon approach. He called it in Minnesota as a coordinator. You just look at his experiences and he’s gone through quite a bit, he’s been a little bit battle hardened. He’s worked with me before, he understands the demands I’m going to place and the things that are in front of us. I think it’s a real good fit for us. I’m very excited to be able to get him, bring him aboard. I think he’s really poised to kind of maximized his ability. He’s a bright guy, super-intelligent guy. Been around a lot of good teachers, good football. I thought he was really bright back then. Both of us were kind of green, you know? We were both cutting our teeth and kind of making our way. I think as we get back together now I think we’re both in a much better position. A lot wiser, and a lot better prepared.

Q: The flip side of that would be Ken Norton, who hasn’t been a play-caller, but you have a background with. What was appeal of bringing him here?

Del Rio: Great passion. Really connects with the players. He’s been a part of great defenses there in Seattle, so he’s coming in with the knowledge of what it looks like to win, what it takes to win. How you put together a roster. How you motivate a roster. He’s going to be excellent. I’m really excited about the connection he’ll bring, the passion that he brings every day. He likes to have fun. It’s going to be a real positive environment. Players are going to love it. Players are going to play hard for us. We’re going to play hard, we’re going to play fast and we’re going to have fun getting after people.

Q: In terms of combining this new Raiders defense . . . how much of it is as what you’ve done as a D-coordinator and head coach, with Ken being green, will it be more your style of defense than his?

Del Rio: This is going to be the Raider way. I think trying to determine the percentage of what’s his or mine is irrelevant. I think what’s more important that we know we’re going to settle on things that we’re going to be. I’m not really concerned with what that percentage looks like in terms of, we both believe in the basic premise that if guys understand what they’re supposed to do and you have good teachers and you’re able to develop guys and bring the best out of them to play hard for you, then you start developing that confidence, you start flying around the field and getting after people, that’s how you play great defense. Fortunately, we both were blessed with the opportunity to play along time and we’ve both been coaching for a long time, and we’ve been around some great defenses and I feel very confident that we will begin playing great defense in a short amount of time.

Q: You mentioned upgrades to the facility. What was your first impression of the facility when you came in?

Del Rio: I guess it was kind of how I feel about coming into the job. I know there’s work to be done, and excited about the opportunity to mold this place and make a difference, make an impact. We want to make sure that everything we’re doing every day gives us an opportunity to win our division, to contend for championships. That’s where it starts. Our goal from Day 1 is to win our division. Everything that we want to do on a daily basis is making sure that we’re tracking in taht direction.

Q: What will be your involvement in bringing back free agents _ Stefen Wisniewski for example, a starting center _ will that be Reggie dealing with the numbers, then telling you where you stand in terms of the merits of a player?

Del Rio: We’re as a staff examining the current roster. We’re sharing that information with Reggie and the scouting department. Reggie and I will sit down and formulate a plan in terms of how we execute our offseason, how we go about deciding which guys we’re interested in keeping, which guys we’re going to let go to the market, that maybe will monitor, and which guys maybe we let go and wish them the best. It will probably be a combination of all that. I think we’re going to be direct dialogue throughout the process. It’s a fluid process. Things change from day to day and we have the ability to have great communication, and we do.

Q: Impressions of Latavius Murray. Seen enough on tape to think he can be a No. 1 running back?

Del Rio: I think he’s shown enough of the traits to be a candidate to be that guy. I don’t know that he’s earned that yet. I think he’s shown that there’s potential there and we’re excited about working with him and developing him to his fullest and having him compete and we’ll end up, whoever ends up being the best guy, let the best guy play. He’s done enough things that piques your interest.

Q: What jumps out?

Del Rio: Size, he’s got good size, and speed. And there’s some things that we’ll need to work to improve in terms of overall awareness, football IQ, things like that, that we can help him with in coaching. And some of the running lanes we want to provide for him. Quite frankly there weren’t enough holes last year for backs to get loose in and do their thing. We want to make sure we’re doing our job up front, creating holes, knocking people off the ball and creating running lanes for guy like he and others like we talked about earlier can do their thing.

Q: Do you feel you have a No. 1 receiver here or will you look toward the draft?

Del Rio: I quit trying to number the receivers quite awhile ago. We’re going to have good players. When I was in Dallas in ’89, Ken and I were together, the offense line was just ridiculed. All the time. They can’t block anybody, this and that. Then you look at who won the Super bowl a couple of years later, a lot of those guys were still playing on the offense line. So we’ll see. We’re going to work to develop our guys. Our receivers, everyone we have here, we’re going to work to develop them to their fullest. We’ll have talent, we will create competition, and we’ll see, there might be a surprise or two, where someone becomes more than maybe what people outside of our building feel he could be.