Shell"s return marks new Raider era
By Bill Soliday and Oakland Tribune |
PUBLISHED: July 23, 2006 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 30, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.
Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again. Whether happiness resides there remains to be seen. But memories encourage the optimist.
It"s been 22 weeks and one day since Art Shell put on a suit and took the podium, the once and future coach of the Oakland Raiders.
"It feels like home," Shell confirmed four days before packing for his first Raider training camp in 12 years.
It"s Napa this time, not Santa Rosa or Oxnard. There"s no Snake in sight and the Ghosts are not of Dave Casper but of a recent Raider history that has been bleak, sliding into barely discernible historic relevance.
But the home turf is familiar for the Hall of Fame player and for those who care deeply, there is a palpable aura of optimism.
Shell, whose game face back in the day was stoic, measured, determined and silent, now says he is "excited about going to camp. I am excited about the players we have here.
"I just love being around it."
By Shell"s account, last season"s 4-12 finish was far cry from what the team can accomplish. Hence there were no wholesale personnel changes. Doing things the right way, he says, should be enough for starters.
"There is a lot of work to be done," Shell said. "Strange things can happen in this league. We look forward to turning this thing around."
Shell"s job is just that – engineering a turnaround. That could mean 8-8 or possibly a run at the playoffs. Within Raider Nation, a noticeable tone of hope exists, hope tempered by skeptics who point out that Wolfe was right about going home and that Shell was last a head coach way back in 1994.
Furthermore, they say, owner Al Davis may have placed too much credence in memories … or tried too hard to make amends on an old mistake, letting Shell go the first time.
By Davis" reckoning, the 1995 season was a demarcation point in Raider history. It was when he let go the "distinct line of philosophy, of stability (of) Raider football."
It also marked the year the Raiders returned to Oakland. It was the year of what has been termed a palace coup, ending in Mike White bumping Shell as head coach. Davis has blamed himself for listening to other voices in cashiering Shell after he posted a 54-38 record in 51 2 seasons.
And so, 12 years later, Shell is back to resurrect Raider football after it was safeguarded by non-Raider types from White through Norv Turner.
Something about going back to their roots feels good to fans, to Davis, to Shell, and to old Raiders who have, to a man, placed a stamp of approval on the move.
"He is the right choice," former coach John Madden said flatly. "It is a Raider type of thing. He is a Raider."
"Art is coming back with a different attitude than he had," said ex-teammate and defensive backs coach Willie Brown. "That was his first coaching job and I am not sure all the people around him worked hard enough for him.
"He gives us the understanding of what it truly means to be a Raider. He gives us leadership. He gives us discipline. He gives us toughness. And with no B.S. He is not going to B.S."
"I think he probably learned a few things the first time around," said former Raider coach Tom Flores. "He was successful. He had winning seasons. He took them to championship games. But he is probably a little wiser, a little more mature. He knows what has to be done.
"I think this team needs to get back to where they are all committed. They have to follow the leader and he is the leader."
One of the issues that has been most frustrating both to fans and older players alike is what has happened to the Raiders on their home field since that 1995 demarcation point.
Since returning to Oakland, the Raiders are an OK 46-42 at home in 11 seasons, although the numbers are padded by an 18-6 run from 2000 to 2002. Barely .500 is peanuts compared to when Shell was playing. His first 10 years, the Raiders were 59-9-2 at home, an .857 winning percentage.
"To see us not playing well at home now is so sad it almost makes you want to cry," Shell"s former teammate Cliff Branch said. "We always felt the Coliseum … was a three-point advantage because of our fans.
"Art will get it back. All us Raider legends feel the Raiders had to go back and get somebody who knew the Raider way. Bring someone back who knows. There was only one person. It was Art."
Bill Soliday