NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported earlier Tuesday that the Raiders were close to finalizing a deal with Allen, who now becomes the NFL's youngest head coach at 39 years and 124 days old.
New Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, who's at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., told Comcast SportsNet Bay Area earlier in the day that he had scheduled a Tuesday night interview with Allen but hadn't yet made a final decision.
Allen will be the first defensive-oriented Raiders coach since John Madden was hired before the 1969 season. Oakland likely wanted a defensive mind after ranking 29th in total defense this season.
In his first season as coordinator in Denver, Allen helped the Broncos improve from allowing an NFL-worst 29.4 points and 390.8 yards per game to rank 20th in yards (357.8) and 24th in points (24.4) this season on the way to an AFC West title.
Cornerback Champ Bailey was visibly disappointed Tuesday upon learning that his defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, had agreed to become coach of the AFC West rival Oakland Raiders.
'It will be another coordinator,' Bailey said when told of the news at the Pro Bowl. '... I might sound a little selfish. I'm happy for him, don't get me wrong. At the same time, I'm thinking about our team. That's another change for us.'
When the Broncos hire Allen's replacement, it will be their sixth defensive coordinator since Bailey joined the team in 2004. It also will be Denver's fifth defensive coordinator in a five-year span (Bob Slowik, Mike Nolan, Don 'Wink' Martindale, Allen).
Bailey was effusive in his praise of Allen, describing the coach as 'intense.' Allen, who the Broncos brought over from the New Orleans Saints before the season, was a big part of the Denver defense's emergence.
'He knew how to get us ready,' Bailey said. 'I give him a lot of credit for the success we had this year.
'(He's) serious about the business,' Bailey added. 'He's one of the most intense coaches I've had. It was a pleasure working with him. You knew what he was going to bring you every day.'
Now Bailey and his teammates will be tasked with facing their former coach twice per year, a prospect that didn't seem to overly excite the cornerback.
'I know what type of team he's going to have,' Bailey said. 'Very intense, hard-nosed, tough. That's the way he is. That's what I expect his team to be.'
Von Miller wondered how the Raiders' move would affect his play next season -- 'He knows me,' the Broncos' rookie linebacker said -- but he shared Bailey's view that Oakland made a good hire.
'First and foremost, they're getting a guy that's going to come in right away, and he's going to get it done,' Miller said. 'That's what he did for us. He came in, he laid out a plan for us, he told us, 'This is how we're going to do it, and this will work,' and that's what happened. We improved our defense an incredible amount. It was a night and day team from a year before.
'I think he'll do the same thing with the Oakland Raiders.'
(Per NFL.com)
Then there was this new that came out of the senior bowl, click here. So there has been some speculation that ex-Jags coach Jack Del Rio is a possibility, and Dave Krieger says current Denver LB coach Richard Smith is another option. Del Rio was the Carolina DC for one season under Fox in 2002 before taking the head job in Jacksonville, while Smith has been a DC in Miami (2005) and Houston (2006-08).
So my thoughts....
And....
And this is what I think of the Raiders....link (I had to link this one)
But hey what can you do, hopefully Allen returns to us at some point and doesn't make the Raiders into a power house. I think it is a bit of a slap in the face but Fox is a guy that let's his coordinators seek out promotions. The way I see it is Allen was signed on a multi-year contract to fix the Broncos defense and get this team to the Superbowl. In that way he is leaving a half finished job and failed in his position. I don't know, I guess I am bitter. Either way I look forward to making fun of you twice a year. ~ Aussie
