Gruden Is Latest Shanahan-Come-Lately for Davis and Raiders

He was born on Aug. 24, stood 36 years of age as the Raiders’ head coach with complete authority to implement a new offense, and lasted 20 games before being dismissed.

But last year, as Denver’s head coach, Mike Shanahan was smart enough to win the Super Bowl.

If at first you don’t succeed. . . .

He was born on Aug. 17, stands 35 years of age as the Raiders’ head coach with complete authority to implement a new offense, and just how long will Jon Gruden last?

“Oh, I don’t know; I know some people have compared Shanahan to me because of our age, but this is a different decade, a different group of players and a different time totally,” Gruden said. “I don’t get too deep into any of that stuff.”

A one, and a two, and so now we know the young coach can dance around the tough questions with the best of them, but can he make a difference in an organization that has already gone through three head coaches in compiling a 54-58 record since a 51-3 AFC championship game loss to Buffalo after the 1990 season?

“I’m not a prognosticator, but I think we have a chance to do some things this year,” Gruden said. “We have enough playmakers to win some games, and if we’re committed to this together and if we’re united and can hang in there for 16 weeks, we’ll see where we are at the end.”

Upon first glance, the Raiders do look different under Gruden’s direction. With Al Davis nowhere in sight, Gruden barked orders before and after almost every play. He had someone timing his offensive unit to see how long they remained in the huddle, another coach telling an offensive lineman to place his hands on his knees in order to look like the 10 other guys in the huddle.

“You gotta be a football player,” Gruden shouted after tugging his baseball cap down over his eyes. “Criminy, I want the point blocked. We got no running game, tight ends. You’re killing me.”

He stands no taller than his starting quarterback’s shoulder pads, his face covered with freckles and his head with blond hair. He fought hard to convince Davis that he was ready to be a head coach, and has been impressive so far in his preparation and attention to detail.

He has shortcomings, say those who know him. He does not recover quickly after a defeat. It’s a trait that might make coaching the Raiders prohibitive.

But so far the Raiders are looking almost like the 49ers or the Packers, moving smartly from drill to drill and emphasizing execution rather than who’s the most macho Raider in silver and black. During this training camp, the Raiders were running almost 30 more plays a practice than a year ago because of the upbeat tempo.

“He’s a very smart coach; I think that’s pretty obvious,” said Tim Brown, the Raiders’ outspoken wide receiver. “He’s very knowledgeable about the game and I don’t know if we’ve ever had someone who has been so knowledgeable about what he wants to do and how he wants to attack people.”

Right now, he looks good, looks like someone who knows what he’s doing, but who’s anybody kidding? Two losses in a row, maybe a bad hair day or whatever, and you know who will be poking his head in the door.

He did it to Shanahan, has done it to every coach the Raiders have ever had, and now that Al Davis is working with a 35-year-old coaching youngster, do you think he’s going to back off?

“Why would anybody want to do things the way they have been done?” Brown said. “If we had been successful doing what we had been doing, that’s something totally different. But I don’t know why Al or Bruce [Allen] or anybody would want to say, ‘I don’t like this, we’re too successful at it.’ We’re doing fine now.

“Last year we really couldn’t get the job done because no one knew what we were really trying to do.”

The Raiders won four games last year, but they believe they have the talent for an overnight make over, although they probably fall in step behind Denver, Kansas City and even Seattle in most preseason prognostications.

“I feel like we have some brilliant talent at some positions, so we’ll see,” said Gruden, passing game coordinator at Southeast Missouri State a decade ago before gaining pro experience with the 49ers, Packers and Eagles.

“No, I had no reservations whatsoever when I took this job. This is a great opportunity. I had the chance to interview for a job with the Raiders in 1995, again in 1996 and this past year. It’s an organization with great tradition, and a chance as a coach to learn a lot and at the same time implement a style that I think is a good one.”

Gruden brought in Willie Shaw, who contributed to New Orleans’ incredible fourth-place defensive effort last season despite being handicapped by a go--nowhere offense, to be his defensive coordinator. Shaw is a scheme expert, a coach who tries to fool the opposition, while Gruden stresses ball control, relying on short passes and the running game.

Al Davis likes to go deep. Raider football, you know: third and long, go deep, incomplete and punt.

“Everybody has me associated with the 49ers and the way they ran their offense, but I was just a water boy there,” said Gruden. “We were a running team in Philadelphia, and over the last three years probably ran it as much as anybody in football.”

Gruden had Ricky Watters to run, and had his squabbles with Watters. In Oakland, he has Napoleon Kaufman to run and Jeff George, who should flourish in his offensive system, as quarterback.

“I’m still learning how to coach Jeff,” Gruden said. “He attempts throws that quarterbacks that I have been around would never even consider. I catch myself saying, ‘no, no, no, no, nice shot.’ A lot. He’s amazing the way he throws the ball, the velocity, the location. I’m blown away by his ability to throw the ball.”

George, sounding like Brett Favre after Gruden talks about him, will be pivotal to Gruden’s opportunity to install his offense and stay with it without interference from above. Call it a coincidence, but the guy directing Favre also happens to be Gruden’s primary mentor.

“The guy who has had the most influence on me is [Green Bay Coach] Mike Holmgren,” Gruden said. “I wrote down everything he said for four years.

“Paul Hackett [new USC coach] taught me a lot on how to coach quarterbacks. Paul Hackett is a brilliant coach. He’s as good a quarterbacks coach as there might ever be. Ray Rhodes taught me how to communicate with players, although Ray uses a little more descriptive adjectives than I do.

“I’m still learning every day, but watching the Packers work and their performance standard probably had the biggest impact on me. If we’re going to practice it has to be done like this, and if we’re going to play it’s going to be done like this. That’s how it’s going to be done--period.”

And that’s the way the Raiders have been working in preparation for a demanding schedule right from the start. Oakland will open in Kansas City, come home to play the New York Giants and Denver and then travel to Dallas.

A week later Al Davis should be calling the shots.