Martindale to coach Raider ‘D’? Here we go again …

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, January 16, 2009  |  Comments( 38 )

Oakland Raiders
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There’s new news in Oakland: Get ready for more of the same old thing on defense.

According to several in-house sources, the front-runner to replace Oakland Raiders ex-defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who took a job with the Cleveland Browns this offseason, is Don Martindale. The linebackers coach joined the Raiders back in 2004, which is the same year Ryan was named the team’s D-coordinator.

Now, with Ryan gone, Martindale is the perfect candidate for 79-year-old team owner Al Davis to take control over. He’s been accustomed to Ryan’s (Davis’) defense for the past five seasons and knows how things work in Oakland -- primarily, that Davis doesn’t like to be questioned and always wants things his way.

To be brief: Expect pretty much nothing to change defensively in 2009. You’ll see plenty of straight man-to-man, minimal blitzing and everyone’s favorite, the fourth-quarter prevent.

It’s nothing personal against Martindale. He could be a good coach. But if the rumor holds true and the assistant is promoted to D-coordinator, it’ll simply verify the longtime (and true) rumor that Davis essentially controls how the Raider defense operates. In that case, Martindale is nothing more than Davis’ sideline puppet.

Say, for instance, Cleveland wasn’t able to sweep away Ryan. He would still be Oakland’s defensive coordinator, despite never coaching a unit that ranked better than 22nd in stopping the run for five consecutive years. That wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the NFL. But it’s all because Davis knew Ryan would never question his ownership tactics.

Yet, Ryan was swept away. And it took just a few days for those closest to the Raider organization to identify who’d likely replace the 46-year-old: The closest person to Ryan the Raiders have on their coaching staff.

Martindale came with Ryan to Oakland in 2005 and almost left with him in '09. Several reports stated that Ryan wanted to take Martindale with him when he was hired for the Cleveland gig, but couldn’t because he’s under contract with Oakland. Ironically, the Raiders don’t even have a coach yet, and now Martindale, who worked under Ryan’s defense for five straight years, is the top candidate for the job.

The move is especially ill-timed considering the way Oakland’s linebackers played in 2008. The team’s top two LBs, Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard, looked uncharacteristically slow and poor in the tackling department last season, helping to position Oakland a terrible 31st in the league in stopping the run.

But, remember, credentials don’t matter in Oakland. It’s all about who will best fit into Davis’ plan.

So if Martindale indeed is promoted the next defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders, throw all those messages of change and hope out the window. Davis will do anything to keep things the same in Raiderland, no matter how bad they are.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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