Coach Speak – Raiders Edition

Good afternoon coach Pac and thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions.

Q. You recently were hired to bring the lowly Raiders back to the land of the NFL. What was that first call like with Mr. Davis, when you found out you got the job?

A. He asked me how fast my 40 times was… ha! No really, Al basically told me he wanted to bring someone in capable of turning the team into a winner and he felt I was the best choice for that. He even chose to concede GM duties to me as well, which is a true show of faith. For those of you who know Al and how he’s run this team in the past you know… him giving up GM control really is a big shocker. That’s when I knew he was committed to me. And that’s also when I knew I’d be a fit in Oakland.

Q. Now that you have been through the draft and had a chance to get to know the guys on the team, what do you think the Raiders biggest weakness/strength will be this season?

A. Well, our strength lies in two areas. We have a great offense now with this deep corps of pass catchers and our thunder and lightning duo in the backfield. Couple all that with the outstanding addition of Jack English, and you’ve got yourself a fun offense to watch. Put that offense together with the veterans we have on our defense and look out. Our fans are gonna be in for some fun this year.

As far as a weakness goes, we have a lot of youth on this team. To some, that could be considered a huge weakness. I don’t see it though. I feel like we’ll be fine. There’s a lot of veteran leadership on defense that will spill over the whole team and really give the youngsters an example of what it means to be an NFL player. There’s guys like Nnamdi, Richard, Thomas and Kirk to look up to. How can you go wrong with leadership like that? And make sure you don’t look past Jack, either. We brought him in here for a reason!

Q. The BDML Draft has passed and you have already made some roster changes outside of the draft, what do you feel is the biggest thing you have done to improve the team so far and do you have any other moves in mind before the season starts?

A. I feel like we managed to address most of our glaring issues through the draft. Our largest addition was probably us having a chance to grab a true franchise quarterback in Jack English. He instantly changes our offense into a true threat. I’d go into Jack more, but there will be a press conference in the near future for that. We also managed to have an amazing pickup in Patrick Lopez in the 2nd round. It’s beyond me how this guy fell. There are some worries that his combine numbers were blown out of proportion.. and let me tell you, they weren’t. This kid is just as much of a beast as he showed at the combine. Workout warrior he may be, but that translates to an NFL field pretty darned well in my opinion.

As far as other moves go… well, we are always evaluating our roster and looking for ways to improve. Don’t be surprised if we make another big splash or two in either free agency or through a trade. Don’t be surprised if we decide to stay put, either. I’m pretty happy where we stand at the moment.

Q. The AFC West has a couple great teams, who do you see as the team to beat?

A. I’m not going to sit here and be a primadonna and talk about how we’re going to be the team to beat like some teams do. I try to let my teams play do the talking. As far as our division goes, there’s 3 other great teams in it and it’s going to be a definite fight for all 4 of us. Not one team in this div is going to go down easily. It should be a great year for AFC West football.

Q. You open the season verse the Texans and kind words for them before the game?

A. Again, I’ll let my teams play do the talking. Let’s just say, though, that by the end of this game our play will have talked enough to be written down into a novel. Let’s hope it’s a good one.. haha!

Coach Speak – Chiefs Edition

This week the staff of Coach Speak took some time out of their busy schedule to ask the Kansas City Chiefs coach, Jukster818, some questions about his teams early season good fortunes.

Q. When taking over the Chiefs what did you feel needed to be done to make the team a winner and do you feel you have accomplished that yet?

A. Well we definitely didn’t have as much talent as the other teams in our division, specifically at wide receiver and also the defensive line. So we drafted a couple receivers in Clayton Roberson and Robert Toliver, both of them have played great for us so far. On the defensive line we added the best pass rusher in the league in Dwight Freeney, he has also played very well. As far as making the team a winner, I don’t think we have accomplished that yet. There have been some teams that start the season 6-0 or 7-0 and still don’t make the playoffs so we still got a lot of work to do.

Q. Your team is currently 4-1, what do you feel was the biggest off season change that you made to help turn the team around?

A. Well I believe the progression of quarterback Matt Cassel and drafting Clayton and Robert at receiver has played the biggest role in us winning games so far.

Q. AT this point of the season who would be your teams MVP thus far and what has he done to earn that honor?

A. The team MVP definitely has to be QB Matt Cassel, as of right now he’s leading the league in passing yards and has 13 touchdown passes versus only 5 interceptions. But he couldn’t be that successful without the offensive line protecting him the way they have. So I also give a lot of credit to the O-line, they give him a lot of time in the pocket.

Q. Who do you see as the team to beat in the AFC West and AFC in general?

A. In the AFC West I’m going to have to say us, we have already beat the Raiders and the Broncos so if we keep it up I think we will come out on top of the division. The team to beat in all of the AFC has to be the Titans, those guys are ridiculous. I believe they have the best defense and the best offense in the league, so their obviously the Super Bowl favorites as of right now.

Q. Where do you see your team when the play offs start?

A. Well I don’t want to look to far ahead, but I think we have a great chance of having a 1st round bye in the playoffs this season.

Thanks a ton Coach and good lukc the rest of the season.

Coach Speak – Bills Edition

Coach Speak – Buccaneers Edition

This week the staff at “Coach Speak” sat down with the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bigtymer, as he discussed his teams dramatic make over during the off season and what they are doing to get ready for season two.

Q – Talk about the draft and the players you selected?

A. – The Buccaneers were desperate for some defensive talent. In the 1st round we selected ROLB Josh Sneed with our 1st overall pick. Sneed is a guy that we expect to have an outstanding affect on our defense, as we were looking for guys that could help stop the run and defend the short intermediate crossing routes. We traded most of our picks away for players that would help solidify starting position on our team, but in the third round we traded back into the draft to pick up a young promising CB that we thought was a sleeper, but still could make a great impact for our team. Adam Story is built for speed, and not comfort. He is a guy we expect to be a Pac-man Jones type of CB. Someone we can count on as a play maker in critical situations.

With a lack of depth in our line and a core of young Running Backs we selected RT Chris Grant with our 2nd round (33rd overall) pick. Chris is a strong young man, and we hope he will solidify our Offensive line, and make some holes for Felix and Benson to break through.

Overall there were several promising defensive players in the draft, but we felt like the ones we picked up were key to our team.

Q. – What other changes outside of the draft has your team made to help get better for season two?

A. – We made several trades outside of the draft that allowed us to pick up some experienced guys that we think have great potential, and will get the job done for us. CB Michael Jenkins was by far the biggest pick up we could have asked for. We struggled in our secondary year one, and with the Michael Jenkins acquisition we feel that he will help defend against the big plays. Mathias Kiwanuka at DE solidified our D-line as we were looking for someone that could help stop the run. Overall our defense was in shambles and struggled to make tackles as we rode the back of MLB Barrett Ruud  in our first year, and with these guys we feel like we have taken some of the stress off of his back to be in on every play. This will also allow us to spread out our defense a little more so that our playmakers can have an opportunity to make more plays.

On the Offensive side of the ball we have several promising guys. QB Vince Young looks to be one of the more glamorous guys we picked up as he’ll be sharing time with Josh Freeman. Cedric Benson also looks to be a solid gain as we feel his ability to pound on the defense will help open up the field for our passing game and his complementary back Felix Jones. Some mentionable guys we fill that will add depth and promise to our offense are Michael Bush RB, and Shawn Nelson TE. These are two very solid guys that we think will make plays for us when they are in the game.

Q. – How do you see your team competing this year, will they contend or are they still a year away?

A. – Competing, the only competition we face this year is ourselves. We have to execute plays, and make stops on defense. If we can do these two things we feel we have a shot at it all. We hope to be that worst to first team, but that is over hyped in preseason as we haven’t seen our competitions talent levels yet.

Q. – What do you see as the biggest change your team made this off-season and how will it affect the win / loss column?

A. – Defense, We expect our defense to be able to make stops this year. In year 1 we evaluated our talent and who we expected to step up on our team. Year 2 we are looking forward to some grueling games in the trenches on defense.

Q. – Who are your favorites or teams to beat in the AFC and NFC for the upcoming season?

A. – Week 2 Seattle Seahawks, and the New Orleans “Bush” Saints. Two very tough competitors, and if we are expecting ourselves to have a chance we must prove that we can win big games. We believe these two coaches are primer coaches in the BDML, and we must first prove that we can beat anyone before we have high expectations for winning.

Thanks for your time coach Bigtymer and good luck with the upcoming season.

BDML Coach Speak

The BDML will be presenting Coach Speak starting week 1 of season 2. This section will be an interview area for league coaches.

BDML On Notice

Coming Soon! A weekly article by Robert Williams that puts the entire league on Notice.