Jack Del Rio may have eventually flamed out after eight seasons as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it seems the trials, tribulations and ultimate failures he endured while in Florida and the seasons he spent rebuilding his reputation with the NFL as the defensive coordinator in Denver, have helped guide Del Rio's hand as he implements a rebuilding plan and refreshes the culture of his new franchise, the Oakland Raiders.
Del Rio, who officially signed on as the next Raiders head coach in Jan. of this year and has thus been with the team for just about six months, has, according to "someone who has been with the team a while," already instilled a "new energy" into the Raiders, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Caplan reported late Thursday.
Caplan's report echoes a similar sentiment NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth volunteered to HNGN back in May - that Del Rio brings a toughness and an "edge" that should have the Raiders looking like a whole new team come the 2015 NFL season.
While recent history has certainly not been kind to the NFL's Oakland-based organization - the team hasn't made the playoffs since 2002, when they were thrashed in the Super Bowl by former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Del Rio's early efforts seem to have created an abundance of optimism for a team and a city that, prior to the Warriors recent NBA Championship, hadn't had a whole lot to be excited about.
Now though, with Del Rio adding a boost to the franchise via his apparently infectious energy, the development of last year's second-round draft pick Derek Carr into a potential franchise quarterback, Khalil Mack's quick ascendance to one of the best defensive players, not just on the Raiders, but in the NFL, and the addition of electrifying wideout Amari Cooper in this April's draft, there is ample reason for hope in Oakland.
While relocation questions will continue to pester the franchise throughout this season, if Del Rio and Co. can tune them out and keep their nose to the grind stone, this could finally be the season the Raiders break out of the NFL doldrums and return themselves to the conversation for the league's elite.
