John Marshall, playing with a revamped Raiders defense
John Marshall has more than 30-years of NFL coaching experience. This off-season has been a refreshing one for the 64-year old, who now has a plethora of new linebackers to work with and is being assisted by one of the better defensive line coaches in the league, Mike Waufle.
The Oakland Raiders hope that the revamped defense and added talent will help Marshall catapult the unit from its 26th overall ranking in 2009.
Jay Richardson talked about his coordinator in a recent interview with SBReport.net, stating, “It’s fun [playing for Marshall]. He plays an attacking style defense. John Marshall is a fundamentally sound coordinator. He wants everything done right all the time and he has a lot of personality. He does the best he can to try to get us going throughout the week, even though it gets tough sometimes, he sticks with it and he’s just one of those guys that is relentless. He has fun with it. We have a good time with coach Marshall.”
Oakland attacking in 2009 and their rush ability, going after the passer, was a major topic that surrounded Marshall. In five victories last season, the Raiders tallied 15 of the team’s 37 total sacks. Oakland was far more aggressive in those contests and the team appeared to have an emphasis on generating a rush via blitzes. I asked Tyvon Branch in the off-season if he felt that the defense is at its best when they are attacking; blitzing and bringing the heat as oppose to sitting back and being passive with just a 4-man rush?
He stated, “Certain times call for different schemes, but personally, I love to attack and go after the offense.”
Marshall will undoubtedly be under the gun this season. Tom Cable is a lame duck coach and if the defense falters, the leash will be short on the defensive coordinator.
With their top two draft picks being spent on the front-seven and the additions of Quentin Groves, Kamerion Wimbley and the expected development of other young players on that unit, Marshall will have to show he has some tricks up his sleeve and put all the new pieces into the right places if Oakland wants to surprise the NFL world in their quest back to respectability.
Link to Marshall’s profile on Raiders.com
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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
