As he begins to build his Oakland Raiders coaching staff, Jack Del Rio is bringing in familiar faces.
The Raiders announced Monday evening that Bill Musgrave will be the team’s offensive coordinator. Musgrave was Del Rio’s offensive coordinator in Jacksonville in 2003-04 before being fired after the Jaguars were 30th in the NFL in scoring. Clearly, that parting of the ways isn’t a problem for Del Rio or Musgrave more than a decade later.
The other assistant Del Rio has hired in Oakland is offensive line coach Mike Tice, who spent time with Del Rio in Jacksonville as well.
Musgrave, 47, has seven seasons of experience as an NFL offensive coordinator, most recently in Minnesota from 2011-13. He was the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014.
Former Chicago coach Marc Trestman was on Del Rio’s list as was Kyle Shanahan, who resigned after the end of season with two years left on his deal as offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns and has been subsequently hired as Atlanta's offensive coordinator.
Del Rio is getting a capable, experienced coach in Musgrave. He might not be an upper-end hire as far as reputation goes, but the job will not be too big for him.
Musgrave, a former NFL backup quarterback, has a reputation as a run-first play caller. The Raiders’ former offensive coordinator, Greg Olson, was also a run-first play caller, but the Raiders ended up passing 629 times this season and running 337. That is because they were often playing from behind.
At running back, the Raiders are expected to use Latavius Murray as the primary back along with either a player they draft or sign in free agency.
Musgrave also has plenty of experience with quarterbacks, of course, and the chance to work with promising second-year quarterback Derek Carr was likely part of why he decided to reunite with Del Rio.