Marinelli the man? Raiders, Rod to talk on Monday

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, January 16, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Oakland Raiders
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Tampa Bay defensive line coach, Rod Marinelli, has decided after ten years with the Buccaneers to explore other options. For the past decade, Marinelli has contently held the position of assistant head coach/defensive line coach for the Bucs organization. Year after year, Marinelli has without fail raised the Bucs defensive line amongst the most prominent units in the NFL. Now he will depart for the west coast to meet with the Raiders regarding their vacant head coaching position.

Over just the last seven seasons alone, Marinelli has coached his defensive front to an impressive total of 272 sacks. Furthermore, he has had at least one player on his line rank amid the top 15 in sacks for each of his ten years as the defensive line coach. In 2005, it was Simeon Rice who led the way with 14 sacks. In addition to Rice, Marinelli has also worked with Warren Sapp, who joined the Raiders before the 2004 season. In his nine year career at Tampa Bay, Sapp recorded 76.5 sacks.

Marinelli has a long tenure of assistant coaching: In 1976, Marinelli began his coaching career as the Utah State Aggies' defensive line coach. In 1982, he switched sides of the ball to become the offensive line and special teams coach of USU. After a year with USU, Marinelli reverted back to defensive line duties from 1983-1991 - this time with the California Golden Bears. From 1992-1994, Marinelli held the same position as he presently holds with the Buccaneers as assistant head coach/defensive line coach for Arizona State under head coach Bruce Snyder. Finally, Marinelli moved to Tampa Bay after a 1995 season at Southern Cal, where he coached the defensive line under leading man John Robinson.

The Oakland Raiders expected to meet with Marinelli on Monday and is considered to be the first defensive-minded coach that Oakland has measured since the departure of Norv Turner. To this point, Oakland has had talks with Kansas City offensive coordinator Al Saunders as well as San Diego wide receivers coach James Lofton and they are allegedly planning a meeting with Fresno State coach Pat Hill. Currently, Saunders has appeared to take the leading position to fill the vacancy in Oakland. Nevertheless, it is evident that Oakland is not looking to rush into the situation.

The Bucs have been attempting to re-sign Marinelli; however, the organization has been unable to arrive at an agreement with him. Tampa Bay did, however, reach an accord with defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who was thought to be one of the premiere men in the NFL to fill a void at the head coach position. Kiffin was set to interview for the St. Louis Rams head coach vacancy but announced on Friday that he will stay with the Bucs. Since that time, Kiffin signed to a two-year extension with Tampa Bay.

Marinelli, 57, interviewed with the Detroit Lions last week and is set to meet with the Oakland Raiders top brass on Monday.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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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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