OC Bill Musgrave Not Running a No-Huddle Offense in Oakland
By Kevin Saito
From almost the moment Oakland Raiders HC Jack Del Rio hired Bill Musgrave – his OC when both men were with the Jacksonville Jaguars – to run the offense, rampant speculation began making the rounds that Musgrave was going to install the no-huddle offense in Oakland.
Given that people love seeing fast paced offenses score touchdowns, running an up-tempo offense is sexy at the moment. Unfortunately, that early speculation seems a bit – well – off the mark.
It’s not hard to see why so many thought/think that Musgrave was/is bringing the no-huddle to Oakland’s offensive attack. After all, he was the QB’s coach for Chip Kelly’s blitzkrieg offense in Philadelphia for a year. Surely, after being immersed in that lightning fast world of offense, some of it stuck to him, right? And that year of immersion is going to help him modernize the Raiders’ offensive attack, right?
Well, yes. Sort of.
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Shortly after his hiring, Musgrave made it very clear that while he will be incorporating elements of Kelly’s system into his own, he will also be incorporating elements from the systems of all of the coaches he’s worked under during his long tenure as an NFL coach.
Rather than coming in and telling his players that they’re going to run the high-tempo, no-huddle offense whether they like it – or even have the personnel to do it effectively – or not, Musgrave will be flexible enough to tailor his offense around his players.
Though Musgrave believes that the personnel currently populating Oakland’s roster are capable of running that type of up-tempo system, he’s not going to force the issue if it isn’t working.
In a conference call with reporters, Musgrave said:
"“I’m definitely not going to come in with a system and force anybody to do something that’s not natural. We’re definitely going to try to customize and tailor the Raiders’ system to fit the Raiders players.We’re going to do quite a bit (of the Eagles’ attack) if it fits what the players can do there in Oakland. We talked about tailoring the system to fit them, but I’ve got a hunch that a lot of the things we did here in Philadelphia will match up real nice and be effective.”"
So, while we will likely see certain looks from the Raiders that utilize Philadelphia’s up-tempo attack, don’t expect it to be the bread and butter of the Oakland offense in 2015.
Musgrave continued, “Philosophically I do believe in running the football. I definitely want to be a physical outfit that runs the ball and imposes their will on the defense.”
According to Musgrave, part of the attraction of the Raiders’ job was the presence of youngsters Derek Carr and Latavius Murray. Musgrave spoke very highly of Murray, raving about his size, speed, and production once he started getting touches. He also said that he can tailor his offense to showcase the third year running back.
Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (29) is defended by Buffalo Bills safety Aaron Williams (23) at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
About Murray, Musgrave said, “Looking forward to getting out on the field with him and finding out what he’s all about. Finding out what his strengths are so we can tailor our run game to be right up his alley.”
The Raiders were actually one of the better teams in the league when it came to running the fast-paced two minute drill last season. It makes sense that Musgrave would incorporate elements of that up-tempo style.
But Oakland will not be switching purely to the no-huddle as has been suggested. Opposing defenses will get a healthy dose of Latavius Murray balanced out by an effective passing game.
Musgrave has been around the block a few times and has coached under some of the NFL’s best in George Seifert and Joe Gibbs. He makes it a point of pride that he learns something new from each stop on his personal trail, and is able to add some new wrinkle to his game in his next job.
The Raiders can definitely benefit from innovative, exciting – and smart – play calling. Especially given the outlandishly horrible play calling of the last few seasons. Musgrave, in his own words, is philosophically predisposed to running the football.
While adding elements of Philadelphia’s wide open, fast-paced attack would make Oakland’s offense a little sexier and might put some points on the board, fans probably shouldn’t expect to see too much of it.