ALAMEDA – Practice time is Jon Gruden's gold. It's a commodity precious to the new Raiders head coach, who lamented the league's offseason practice restrictions at several points since returning to the Silver and Black in January.
It's hard to blame the guy. Guidelines weren't as strict a decade ago, when Gruden last coached in this league. He has limited windows to conduct important work, installing schemes and building chemistry on a roster altered significantly this offseason.
That's why it was surprising to many when word leaked last week Gruden would be giving up an OTA.
"We heard last week that Santa might come and give us a day off if we had some good OTA days," running back Jalen Richard said. "He told us about the tournament this week, and said he was going to let us coach the kids."
The tournament was called "Raiders U," a seven-on-seven passing league tournament featuring East Bay High School teams. Raiders players coached these units, and coaches officiated a round robin tournament that ended with Dublin High (coached by linebacker Kyle Wilber and other) winning the championship over Marshawn Lynch's Richmond Kennedy High.
The Dallas Cowboys do something similar, and special teams coordinator brought the idea west when he joined the Raiders. Gruden jumped on it quickly, and decided to exchange an OTA for a chance to give prep football players a cool experience.
The move was welcome by players who have been grinding through the offseason program, and still a surprise even though coaches frequently drop the final OTA practice.
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"Coach Gruden is an absolute wild man. I can promise you, if there's anyone who doesn't want to give up football time, it's him," said tight end Lee Smith, one of the head coaches. "…This is our first year, man. Those six hours could've gone a long way, but we wanted to make sure these kids have a great day and experience something they'll remember the rest of their lives."
Receiver Jordy Nelson said the teenage version of him would've been nervous interacting with NFL players. Richard said some were wide-eyed, and glued to instruction from their idols. Most enjoyed the experience, and seemed comfortable working with popular pros.
"These kids have been around social media for so long they always thought they'd meet the Raiders," Bisaccia said. "It was a good interaction. It wasn't about autographs and FaceTime and selfies. It was more about allowing our players to coach them, and maybe they could learn something they can use in the future. For our guys, it was all about the relationships they build with the young men. It was a good day."
The Raiders hope it'll become an annual event, one Gruden and staff felt comfortable taking on despite skipping an OTA.
"We've put in a few good months here in the meeting rooms and on the practice field," Nelson said. "We have another week to go, but we've done well. This is a time for us to hang out and bond, and it's fun to have that as well."
