Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden has caused a rift at the top

Jon Gruden isn’t going anywhere for the Oakland Raiders, but some are already wishing he’d stayed in the broadcast booth at ESPN.

Since taking over in January, few things have gone smoothly for the organization. They’ve purged much of the roster and brought in a large number of players that didn’t exactly rev up the hype train. Namely older veterans like Jordy Nelson and Derrick Johnson, players clearly past their primes. He traded a 3rd round pick for known Steelers malcontent, Martavis Bryant. However, his biggest move came when he traded Khalil Mack, the teams’ best player to Chicago.

Since then the Raiders pass rush has been virtually nonexistent, something he’s complained about incessantly for two weeks. While fans and media continue to slam him for being at for that issue, more details continue to come out on just how fractured the Raiders have become. Not just in the locker room but also the front office.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the veteran coach has caused a major rift at the top of the organization, basically cutting out GM Reggie McKenzie and much of his staff in favor of his own inner circle of trusted advisors.

Jon Gruden made a mistake not push for McKenzie’s removal

It’s hard to say why the Raiders chose to keep McKenzie in the first place. Was it insistence from ownership? Perhaps a sense of loyalty for all the hard work the GM did to get the team out of that miserable hole they were in for years. There’s no way to know. What is known is that the moment Gruden was handed full control of the roster when he signed his 10-year contract, he should’ve dismissed McKenzie.

Not out of any sense of malice, but out of pure business. This would’ve avoided any sort of questions about who was in charge and running the show. Instead Gruden did probably the worst thing possible. He flatly ignored McKenzie and his front office and created his own little separate club. This makes him come off looking somewhat inept and a little bit petty as well.

In fact, Gruden has already thrown the GM under the bus a few times with subtle criticisms about the roster. If he feels that way, then why keep up this farce of having the man remain GM? It’s clear McKenzie has no real power anymore. Just let him walk away in peace. There doesn’t seem to be a point to keeping him as some sort of figurehead. Just another reason to question what the head coach is trying to accomplish.