PRO FOOTBALL: THE AFTERMATH : Bo Tells Shanahan He Will Return

Good night, sweet Raiders.

The day after the Seattle Seahawks ended their seasons for them, Mike Shanahan had each of his players in for a farewell talk. The most interesting of these involved, who else, Bo Jackson, who told Shanahan he will be back next season.

The Kansas City Royals, however, are trying to sign Jackson to a baseball-only contract, so stay tuned.

Said Royal teammate George Brett on a recent visit to the Raider facility: “Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, he’ll move a little on you.”

Shanahan ducked questions about his staff--”There’s always speculation. . . . I’m going to talk to them . . . get an idea where we’re all headed.”--but there has been speculation that several won’t be back.

A year after he cleaned out the offensive assistants, Al Davis is reportedly displeased with the defensive assistants. Enraged after the October loss to Cincinnati, he threatened to fire defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner and one other assistant on the spot, and Raider insiders have said since that the whole defensive staff might be axed.

Of course, by exercising his blood lust and bringing in outsiders, Davis would run the risk of the same kind of disorientation the offense just went through under Shanahan.

Sumner was the coordinator in the last Raider Super Bowl victory--which was also their last playoff victory--in January, 1984. When he returned in 1987, after a stint in the United States Football League, he was warmly greeted as the man to restore the attacking Raider defense.

Someone will have to. This one died after the San Francisco game. Rookie tackle Scott Davis is considered a comer but young end Mike Wise swooned post-49ers, and there is a feeling among Raider players that too much is expected of Howie Long, that his return may not provide the savior they’re counting on.

Barring the arrival of other impact-type reinforcements--and the Raiders are without two of their top three draft picks--they may simply need to gamble and blitz more, as do the Chicago Bears.

Said one Raider: “We’re just going to have to attack.”

Indeed, the Raider defensive unit is well suited to attacking. Teams that tried to copy the Bears, and the Bears themselves, have a classic problem: finding cornerbacks to cover man-to-man while they’re attacking the passer. The Raiders have always insisted that their cornerbacks can play man-to-man and cover. Even at his advanced age, Mike Haynes and the promising Terry McDaniel, could be enough.

There have been reports that one offensive assistant, Tom Walsh, won’t return. Walsh, the quarterback coach, and co-line coach Art Shell were the only offensive assistants to survive last season, after Tom Flores’ departure.

Sports Illustrated reported recently that Walsh has threatened to resign, frustrated that his calls from the press box were often being rejected, but a source says Shanahan told Walsh several weeks ago that he won’t be retained.

Asked to identify Raider weaknesses, Shanahan mentioned the inexperience of the offensive line, and the age of the linebacker corps.

By the end of the season, the line had only one player, Don Mosebar, with as much as one season’s experience as a starter. And Mosebar was playing hurt, with bone chips in an ankle. Rory Graves, the free agent who played right tackle all season, was rated surprisingly decent, and the return of injured left guards Charlie Hannah and John Gesek would help, but another blue-chipper or two wouldn’t hurt, either.

All four starting linebackers are over 30, but the most endangered seems to be the eldest, Rod Martin, the 34-year-old noblest Raider of them all. Martin came out when the team went to a 4-3 alignment. The other outside linebacker, Linden King, 33, had an in-and-out season, too.

Raider insiders have speculated about a possible try for Chip Banks, the talented, troubled linebacker who sat out the season in a contract dispute with the San Diego Chargers.

Banks talked in his days with the Cleveland Browns about playing for the Raiders, and the Browns used to charge that the Raiders were more than intrigued. However, Charger General Manager Steve Ortmayer has been hotly criticized in San Diego for dealing with his old boss, Davis, and might not feel like hearing it all again.

And now for the rebuilding effort:

The Raiders have no No. 1 or 3 picks in the next draft, the first--No. 11 overall--having gone to Chicago in the Willie Gault deal and the other to Washington as part of the Jay Schroeder package.

When they made the Gault trade, part of the rationale was that with their great depth at receiver, they would have extra players they could trade for a No. 1. A look at their roster shows barely anyone they could now trade for a first-round pick, other than those--Schroeder, Howie Long, Tim Brown--they still need.

Raider opponents for next season:

Home--Cincinnati, New England, Phoenix and Washington, plus the four division foes.

Road--New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia, Houston, plus the four division foes.