Oakland Raiders Take Another Coaching Risk In Hiring Jason Tarver To Coordinate Their Defense

The Oakland Raiders have hired their new defensive coordinator this afternoon with the reports of hiring of Jason Tarver from Stanford to run Dennis Allen’s defense. It’s an interesting move for a head coach with so little coordinator or head coaching experience to hire a college guy to run his defense, so the Raiders are going to skew younger if nothing else. Whether that pays dividends one way or the other remains to be seen.

However, Tarver is not without extensive experience in the NFL. Jerry McDonald writes:

Under the direction of Tarver and co-coordinator Derek Mason, Stanford’s defense ranked either first or second in the Pac-12 in eight categories, finishing first in rushing (93.3), first in red zone defense (74.0), first in third-down conversion percentage (30.9 percent), first in total defense (331.4) and first in fewest first downs per game (17.8).

Stanford was second in sacks per game (3.2), scoring defense (20.3) and tackles-for-loss per game (7.3). The Cardinal was fifth nationally in rushing defense, an area where the Raiders have struggled, giving up 5.1 yards per carry in 2011 under Chuck Bresnahan.

Unfortunately, that was all at the college level, but he was with the 49ers as an offensive and defensive assistant over the last 10 seasons before one year at Stanford. It’s definitely an experimental hire of sorts, but new GM Reggie McKenzie ventured out a bit on a limb for Dennis Allen. Any real judgments to be made one way or the other need to wait until the season starts.

Let’s be honest about the state of the AFC West quarterbacks for a minute. You have one that intrigues in Tim Tebow, one that’s among the league’s best in Phil Rivers, and two other mediocre veterans that their teams seem intent on rolling out next season in Matt Cassel and Carson Palmer. While Oakland Raiders fans might have believed that a new regime might displace Palmer at the helm, today’s press conference announcing Dennis Allen as the new head coach only cemented the belief of Hue Jackson’s staff.

Palmer can breathe easy in case he was worried about having to compete for playing time with the new Raiders front office and coaching staff. Both Reggie McKenzie, the team’s new general manager, and Allen publicly backed Carson Palmer today as the Raiders’ quarterback. Both men believe there’s enough talent here to win the division and make the playoffs (they would be correct), and they hope to provide the proper environment and coaching it takes to win.

That said, Palmer is likely to have a short leash (about one season long), and if he cannot prove that he’s a winning quarterback this season, then it’s likely he will be relegated to the bench in 2013. For now, however, he’s earned a full 16 game slate to captain the Raiders within the AFC West. With a full off-season and preseason under his belt, Palmer will have his best chance to succeed. Considering the lost draft choices it took to grab him, Allen and McKenzie hope Jackson’s bet was a winning one.

The 2012 NFL season is going to feature a number of new head coaches or old faces in new places. It will be an interesting subplot, as it is every season, to watch how the coaches fare in their new settings. Jim Harbaugh, for example, provided a wonderful story this season with the success of the San Francisco 49ers. This year, names like Greg Schiano and Chuck Pagano will be hoping for a similar impact.

Of all of the new head coaches, Chris Burke says that Dennis Allen of the Oakland Raiders is the most volatile overall. In other words, Allen’s hiring might turn out to be the best of everyone or it might turn out for the worst. Given Allen’s lack of experience, anything goes.

Burke writes, "Either this will be a savvy and successful move or a colossal setback — it’s hard to see any room in between. Allen is the first coach with a defensive background hired to be Oakland’s head man since John Madden. He comes from Denver, one of the Raiders’ biggest rivals, and at 39, will be the NFL’s youngest head coach.

“But aside from one year as coordinator of Denver’s defense, where are the head coaching credentials on this resume? Three years as the Saints’ secondary coach? Four years as a defensive assistant in Atlanta? The ceiling might be high on this move, but the floor is pretty low.”

Dennis Allen has some knocks against him on his resume in terms of his youth and lack of experience. However, the other side of the ball (and coaching staff) could provide the right counterbalance for the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

Al Saunders is the incumbent Raiders offensive coordiantor and has been coaching longer than Dennis Allen has been alive (Saunders was a coach at grad assistant at USC two years before Allen was born). His expertise just also happens to be on the offensive side of the ball away from Allen’s realm of control. The two might end up working well together despite one being a holdover from Hue Jackson’s staff.

“I’d have to think incumbent Oakland offensive coordinator Al Saunders has a solid chance of staying on,” writes Williamson. "He is reportedly in Mobile, Ala., scouting the Senior Bowl for the Raiders. Allen is in Mobile, so the two will get a chance to talk immediately.

“Saunders would provide stability to the Oakland offense, which is on steadier footing than the Raiders defense. Make no mistake, former head coach Hue Jackson ran the offensive show in Oakland. But Saunders is familiar with the Raiders offense and is capable of running it.”

The former Chiefs coordinator is a name that’s been tossed around to come back to KC, but Saunders is already in place in Oakland. That’s one area Allen might want to keep the same as he comes in to make his new home.