Jack Del Rio's last gig came armed with a franchise quarterback who all but guaranteed success, but the new coach of the Oakland Raiders isn't asking Derek Carr to be Peyton Manning.
"It starts with knowing that there's good leadership in place ... that we can build this team, that we can help the running game be strong, the defense be strong and Derek Carr be developed," said Del Rio. "So, it's not all about him doing it by himself."
Del Rio was impressive in Friday's introductory press conference, going punch for punch with scribes and looking far more comfortable nestled between his owner and general manager than Jim Tomsula was on Thursday with the cross-bay 49ers.
Tomsula is new to the spotlight, but Oakland has chosen a coach with 139 regular-season games under his belt in nine seasons with the Jaguars. Coming off a successful stint as Denver's defensive play-caller, Del Rio went out of his way to note that Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll also struggled as first-time head coaches before finding success.
Belichick and Carroll, though, only flourished after finding reliable franchise quarterbacks, something the Raiders have lacked since the days of Rich Gannon. Armed now with Carr, Del Rio promised to pad his young signal-caller with a better roster.
"As an organization, we have a lot to do, but we understand where we're going and how we're going to get there," Del Rio said. "Part of that is making sure a good, young talent like Derek is not asked to do too much, that he has a great support system around him."
Here is what else we learned from Del Rio and the Raiders on Friday:
- General manager Reggie McKenzie appears to be safe. Team owner Mark Davis emphasized that Del Rio will report to both him and McKenzie, a model the new coach praised:
"Reggie and I are unified in building this roster strong, unified in assembling a very strong coaching staff and unified in doing everything in our power to make everybody that's a part of this organization proud," Del Rio said, adding that he told McKenzie: "If you have drafts like you did last year, we're going to be in great shape."
- Del Rio doesn't foresee the Raiders moving to Los Angeles, San Antonio or anywhere else. He said Davis told him the franchise is committed to making it work in Oakland.
- Davis also assured Del Rio that he'll open the pocket book to bring in the best assistants, saying: "I let Jack know he has all the resources he needs to do that."
- The Black Hole won't struggle to back Del Rio, who grew up in the Bay Area and called Raiders fans the best on earth, saying of his new job: "Yes it's coming home, yes I'm from the area and yes I'm a lifelong Raider and have been a Raider fan all my life. My dad took me, sat in the stands and rooted way back when, and so I've followed them in my heart the entire time."
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