Carr Excited to Work With Gruden: ‘I Want Him to Be Tough on Me'

Jon Gruden has been interviewed several times since becoming Raiders head coach. Quarterback Derek Carr hasn't listened to most of those sessions, and certainly doesn't seek them out.

One landed in Carr's inbox recently, and something Gruden said really resonated.

Gruden's message, paraphrased: If Derek Carr is not successful, then I've failed as a coach.

There are two comments in that one. Gruden considers Carr extremely talented, and he's taking responsibility for unlocking the quarterback's vast potential.

Gruden will be hands on in Carr's development, with all the coaching intensity and fire and eyebrow raises that have become Gruden's signature.

"He's going to demand of me. He's going to push me," Carr said on this week's episode of the Raiders Insider Podcast, which will drop Tuesday morning (Subcribe right here). "He's going to make me be the best version of myself."

Carr had a direct answer to skeptics wondering aloud whether he can thrive under Gruden's particular coaching style.

"I want him to be tough on me," Carr said. "For anyone who thinks I want him to be a different way has no clue about me or how I play football or how I prepare to play this game. I don't need to tell stories about how I prepare or manage myself.

"(Jon) and I are going to get along great. I hope that he demands of me. I hope he's hard on me. I don't need to know he loves me. He has already told me that about 20 times. I appreciate that and we'll be friends forever, but I know he'll be demanding and tell me what I need to do. Let's go fix problems that I have and let's do what I need to do to win championships. Hopefully that will give people some insight and hopefully that's the story that gets out, because that's the truth."

Carr met his new head coach briefly before his introductory press conference, but has known Gruden since filming the Gruden QB Camp segment back in 2014. They got along great then, and in each interaction since.

"We have so much more in common that people realize," Carr said. "I think it would blow some people's minds. Him and I are very similar in the way we go about our business and how we carry ourselves. It's an exciting time."

Carr's excited to have some stability in his football life. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback will start his fifth NFL season with his fourth head coach, fourth go-round with an offensive coordinator and third offensive scheme. Gruden signed a 10-year contract. OC Greg Olson signed a four-year pact. They'll be here a while, and Carr's excited about that.

"It's going to be really nice," Carr said. "To know Jon signed on for a 10 years and (Olson) signed on for a long time shows me a couple of things. No. 1: that they believe in me. I don't think Coach Gruden would've quit his day job, which I'm thankful he did. To get (Olson) out of a good spot in L.A (with the Rams), shows that they believe in me and that's awesome. And, No. 2: I'm going to have two people I can talk to in a different language for years to come. We can grow within the relationship, and hopefully we'll all ride off together. It's set up that way right now, and we have a lot of work to do to reach that point."

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