Leadership style, attention to detail made Rich Bisaccia best choice as Raiders interim head coach
When Jon Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders amid the scandal involving his inappropriate communications revealed in leaked emails from a decade ago, the Raiders quickly had to find a replacement. Owner Mark Davis and general manager Mike Mayock settled on special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia as interim head coach.
Bisaccia, 61, got the nod over defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and offensive line coach Tom Cable, who all have previous head coaching experience.
Bisaccia, meanwhile, has never served as a head coach during a 38-year coaching career that began at Wayne State, where Bisaccia coached defensive backs, special teams, quarterbacks and wide receivers, and progressed with stints at South Carolina, Clemson and Ole Miss before he joined the NFL ranks as Tampa Bay's special teams coordinator in 2002. Bisaccia's NFL stops have also included the Chargers and Cowboys before reuniting with Gruden with the Raiders in 2018.
But the Raiders still saw Bisaccia as the most qualified man for this situation for a number of reasons.
“Since he's a special teams coach, he's involved with more players than any other coach in our building,” Mayock explained to reporters earlier this week. “I've endorsed him for a lot of head coaching jobs for a lot of years, both in college and the NFL. He's got as much respect in the locker room as any coach I've seen in my entire coach. A great coach, hell yeah. But he’s an even greater man. He's a natural leader of men.”
A person familiar with the decision-making process added that Mayock and Davis believed Bisaccia’s strong organizational skills, his direct style of communication and the respect he commands from players and fellow assistants best suited him to assume the leadership role midseason while giving the Raiders their best shot at a seamless transition. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because they hadn’t received clearance to comment publicly on the decision.
Another person who has worked with Bissacia said that because of his leadership style and the strong relationship he has with offensive coordinator Greg Olson and with Bradley, each coordinator will maintain the freedom necessary to continue to direct their units while making any tweaks necessary.
Although he has spent the last 20 years as an NFL assistant, Bisaccia has long had head coaching aspirations. Multiple former associates have said Bisaccia, who previously has received considerations for NFL and college head positions, has always carried himself as a head coach. They expect that Bisaccia will capitalize on this opportunity while keeping the Raiders on track.
“They made the right choice,” said long-time friend and former Tampa Bay coworker Doug Williams, the former Super Bowl XXII MVP and current senior advisor for Washington Football Team. “Honestly, there’s not a player in that building or on any team that hasn’t loved playing for Rich. He knows how to talk to men and get the most out of them. He’s an attention-to-detail guy and understands all aspects of the game. The Raiders really couldn’t have picked a better guy.”
Bisaccia's first test as head coach comes Sunday against the Broncos in a divisional game at Denver.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Raiders view Rich Bisaccia as best choice for interim head coach
