Ken Norton: An Open Letter To Oakland's Defensive Coordinator

Ken Norton, Oakland’s embattled defensive coordinator, is taking flak from all sides after the team’s latest debacle, so we felt the need pen an open letter to him.

I’m not the type who usually does this sort of thing, but on the heels of the team’s latest debacle – or simple defeat, if you prefer – I feel compelled to write to you.

Let me start off by telling you a little story. We had this cat for a good number of years. She was about fourteen. Really sweet, excitable, and fun to be around. Great damn cat.

Anyway, our cat developed cancer and declined rather quickly very recently. We did what we could to extend her life a bit, but we ended up having to make the decision to send her to her eternal slumber last week.

Because we loved that cat and enjoyed being around her as much as we did, it was really painful to let her go.

For about half a day before we made the decision to let her go though, we noticed that she was having real trouble breathing. She was wheezing a bit, drawing really quick, shallow breaths, making it clear she wasn’t getting a lot of air into her lungs. She was still alert and aware, but she was also very listless.

You might be wondering why I’m telling you about my cat, Ken. Even if you weren’t though, let me tell you why I mentioned her. It’s because you remind me a lot of my cat. At least, right there at the end of things, anyway.

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See, Ken, you’re still alert and aware of things going on around you. But you and the defense you field every week, like my cat there at the end, are very listless. Deep down, you know something’s wrong, but also like my cat, you’re fighting for every breath, not quite willing to let go.

And in the process, you’re only extending your own pain as well as the pain of those around you.

It’s not all your fault, Ken. It’s actually, not your fault at all. If I can speak frankly, you shouldn’t even be where you are. You weren’t anywhere near ready to run a defense on your own when Jack Del Rio tapped you for the post when he took over the helm of Oakland Raiders.

That initial failing is on Del Rio, not you, Ken.

But, he believed in you. Believed you had what it took to take a bad defense and make it good again. Over the past two and half seasons now though, we’ve all seen that you’re just not up to the task. You’re in way over your head and everybody seems to know it but you.

Or maybe you do, but you’re content to just keep on struggling for every breath, rather than let go.

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When you took over in 2015, you inherited a disaster of a defense. They were ranked twenty-first overall and were dead last in points allowed the previous year. You took that unit and in your first season, Oakland’s defense ranked twenty-second overall and improved to twenty-second in points allowed.

Not a great start, but given that it was your first season and the roster, as well as the culture Del Rio was helping shape was still in its infancy, we all cut you some slack.

In 2016 though, in what should have been a breakthrough year after adding some real talent to the defensive roster, you guided Oakland’s defense to a twenty-sixth overall ranking. The points allowed improved again, moving up to twentieth in the league.

But, because Derek Carr had an MVP-caliber season and the Raiders went 12-4, securing their first playoff berth since – well, around the time that sweet cat of mine was first born – many of the defensive shortcomings and failings were again, swept under the rug.

This season though, with the offense struggling and falling short in so many ways, the deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball – your bailiwick, mind you – are being highlighted and magnified. With the offense struggling, it’s more than clear that this defense – your defense, Ken – can’t do anything to help keep this team in a game.

I know you’ve said you don’t put much stock in stats and that you have no use for numbers, but some of them, you just can’t escape from. Through ten weeks of the 2017 season, Ken, your defense is ranked twenty-sixth overall and is twenty-first in points allowed.

And oh yeah, through ten games, your defense hasn’t recorded a single interception. Not a single pick in 2017. It’s the only defensive unit in NFL history to accomplish that feat, so you’ve got that bit of history going for you, I guess.

Even though you may not have a lot of use for stats and numbers, Ken, the cold, hard fact of the matter is that opposing offenses are running roughshod over your defense. While being dissected by Tom Brady might be understandable, your defense has been absolutely lit up by the likes of Josh McCown, Trevor Siemian, Tyrod Taylor, and just two weeks ago, Jay Cutler this season.

Cutler, by the way, completed 81 percent of his passes on your defense for 311 yards and three scores, Ken. Jay freaking Cutler.

Over your two-plus seasons now, we’ve not seen one iota of improvement from your defensive units. Despite an influx of talent, your defensive groups haven’t gotten any better over your tenure, Ken. And in fact, a very compelling case can be made that this unit – in your third year at the helm, now – is the worst incarnation yet.

Part of the problem is that your defenses just aren’t aggressive. Like my cat in her final days, your defensive units often appear — listless.

You rarely blitz, you don’t scheme for ways to get Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin free to do what they do best – put a quarterback down.

You don’t get pressure on the quarterback at all, Ken. Your defensive units have been at or near the bottom of the league in sacks since you took over.

And as a result, opposing quarterbacks like the aforementioned Murderer’s Row of McCown, Siemian, Taylor, and Cutler, have all the time in the world. They can often just drop back in the pocket, have a sandwich, do a crossword, and then go through their progressions before they carve up your defense.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – NOVEMBER 19: Dwayne Allen /

Your defensive schemes do not suit the personnel you have on hand. Look at Sean Smith as a prime example of that. In a bump and run style of defense with Kansas City, Smith excelled. He was, in fact, considered by many, to be one of the top corners in the game.

That was the reason McKenzie gave him that fat contract, remember?

But the minute Smith put on that Silver and Black jersey, you tried to shoehorn him into an off-man, zone system – a system that does not play to his strengths. And in the span of a season and a half now, Smith has gone from a solid cornerback to a flaming pile of garbage – which is, of course, a microcosm of your entire defense.

That’s not on Smith though, Ken. His skills didn’t evaporate overnight. That’s on you for trying to make him somebody he’s not.

No matter how bad you want them to be, the Raiders are not the Seattle Seahawks. We don’t have a Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, or Earl Thomas. But here’s the thing. Seattle runs a defense that plays to their strengths. Seattle’s DC puts his players in a position to have success.

Ken Norton: An Open Letter To Oakland’s Defensive Coordinator

By Kevin Saito | Nov 20, 2017

Ken Norton, Oakland’s embattled defensive coordinator, is taking flak from all sides after the team’s latest debacle, so we felt the need pen an open letter to him.

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