Bill Walsh at Raiders Camp
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/14/SPG4RQETQ71.DTL
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin ended offseason workouts with a dream date: practice and lunch with Bill Walsh.
"What can't you get out of that?" Kiffin said Wednesday before taking the legendary former 49ers coach out to eat. "To have him over here was great."
Turns out Kiffin has long admired Walsh, considered one of the great offensive minds of football history. As the son of longtime NFL assistant Monte Kiffin, he had crossed paths with Walsh several times but had never received more than a quick introduction.
Kiffin recently asked Raiders owner Al Davis to set something up, so Davis invited Walsh, his longtime friend and a former Raider assistant coach circa-1966, to the team's Alameda headquarters.
Walsh, who revealed in November he's been battling leukemia for more than two years, accepted. He watched Wednesday's practice from the shaded comfort of a golf cart as coaches and players approached him to say hello.
"It was important for me to get him over here to practice," Kiffin said. "It's one thing to ask a question. It's another thing to have him watch practice and get some thoughts from him on what he's seeing out there. I've spent some time preparing for him."
What Walsh saw on the final day of voluntary minicamp were elements of his West Coast offense that utilize tight ends in open spaces and feature quick routes and screen passes. Of course, there was still the vertical passing game Davis has preferred since his days with Sid Gilman and the Chargers.
Minicamp roundup: Wednesday's practice was the final team workout of the offseason, though the team doesn't wrap up voluntary weight training until next week.
Kiffin didn't name names, but it's clear who some of the winners are heading into training camp, which starts July 27 in Napa.
Quarterback Josh McCown has proven to be the most capable starter while rookie JaMarcus Russell develops. Jerry Porter and Ronald Curry look like the starting wide receivers, and running back Dominic Rhodes has been an explosive free-agent addition.
On defense, Kevin Huntley was very impressive as an edge pass rusher and Darnell Bing flourished at strong safety, his position at USC.
The offensive line is being overhauled, with Robert Gallery bouncing among left tackle, left guard and right tackle. There did not seem to be a leading candidate to returnpunts and kicks.
Parting shot: Kiffin praised his players for their improvement over three months of voluntary workouts, then warned them to stay in shape in the next month of vacation.
"There's a number of individuals who made great strides since we got here," Kiffin said. "Now, here come five weeks where you can go right back to where you were when we first saw you or you can get better. It's really a test for them. How do they come back and how do they handle themselves while we're not there?"
Briefly: The Raiders waived defensive tackle Larry Brown, an undrafted free agent. ... National spelling bee champion Evan O'Dorney of Danville will be honored at a home game next season.
E-mail David White at [email protected].
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin ended offseason workouts with a dream date: practice and lunch with Bill Walsh.
"What can't you get out of that?" Kiffin said Wednesday before taking the legendary former 49ers coach out to eat. "To have him over here was great."
Turns out Kiffin has long admired Walsh, considered one of the great offensive minds of football history. As the son of longtime NFL assistant Monte Kiffin, he had crossed paths with Walsh several times but had never received more than a quick introduction.
Kiffin recently asked Raiders owner Al Davis to set something up, so Davis invited Walsh, his longtime friend and a former Raider assistant coach circa-1966, to the team's Alameda headquarters.
Walsh, who revealed in November he's been battling leukemia for more than two years, accepted. He watched Wednesday's practice from the shaded comfort of a golf cart as coaches and players approached him to say hello.
"It was important for me to get him over here to practice," Kiffin said. "It's one thing to ask a question. It's another thing to have him watch practice and get some thoughts from him on what he's seeing out there. I've spent some time preparing for him."
What Walsh saw on the final day of voluntary minicamp were elements of his West Coast offense that utilize tight ends in open spaces and feature quick routes and screen passes. Of course, there was still the vertical passing game Davis has preferred since his days with Sid Gilman and the Chargers.
Minicamp roundup: Wednesday's practice was the final team workout of the offseason, though the team doesn't wrap up voluntary weight training until next week.
Kiffin didn't name names, but it's clear who some of the winners are heading into training camp, which starts July 27 in Napa.
Quarterback Josh McCown has proven to be the most capable starter while rookie JaMarcus Russell develops. Jerry Porter and Ronald Curry look like the starting wide receivers, and running back Dominic Rhodes has been an explosive free-agent addition.
On defense, Kevin Huntley was very impressive as an edge pass rusher and Darnell Bing flourished at strong safety, his position at USC.
The offensive line is being overhauled, with Robert Gallery bouncing among left tackle, left guard and right tackle. There did not seem to be a leading candidate to returnpunts and kicks.
Parting shot: Kiffin praised his players for their improvement over three months of voluntary workouts, then warned them to stay in shape in the next month of vacation.
"There's a number of individuals who made great strides since we got here," Kiffin said. "Now, here come five weeks where you can go right back to where you were when we first saw you or you can get better. It's really a test for them. How do they come back and how do they handle themselves while we're not there?"
Briefly: The Raiders waived defensive tackle Larry Brown, an undrafted free agent. ... National spelling bee champion Evan O'Dorney of Danville will be honored at a home game next season.
E-mail David White at [email protected].
Parting shot: Kiffin praised his players for their improvement over three months of voluntary workouts, then warned them to stay in shape in the next month of vacation.
lol...at least he is trying more than some of the previous coaches. If he fails you can't say it's because he isn't trying.
Seems he was a good pick for coach...we'll see
lol...at least he is trying more than some of the previous coaches. If he fails you can't say it's because he isn't trying.
Seems he was a good pick for coach...we'll see
I THINK IT WAS MEANT TO BE MORE OF AN INSPIRATIONAL THING THEN ANYTHING ELSE. I MEAN HERE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST FOOTBALL MINDS OF ALL TIME AND HE'S COMIN OUT HERE, GIVIN FEEDBACK AND SHAKIN HANDS, WHILE HE'S BATTLIN LEUKIMIA (SP?)
PLUS AL DAVIS AND BILL WALSH ARE OLD FRIENDS SO AL MADE IT HAPPEN. AFTER ALL, WALSH USED TO WORK FOR THE RAIDERS.
THAT'S GANGSTER SHIT.
PLUS AL DAVIS AND BILL WALSH ARE OLD FRIENDS SO AL MADE IT HAPPEN. AFTER ALL, WALSH USED TO WORK FOR THE RAIDERS.
THAT'S GANGSTER SHIT.
good sign that the raiders shut down camp cause they were 'practicing' too hard.
seriously never thought i would read that
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http:...ry?id=2906028&name=FPT-2906028-061605&srvc=sz
seriously never thought i would read that
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http:...ry?id=2906028&name=FPT-2906028-061605&srvc=sz
It's hard to take someone with a gay name like "Superfly Snuka" seriously, so I'm just gonna go ahead and say SHUT THE FUCK UP.
You're a fuckin retard if you think Walsh's visit is going to help that team in any way. Go read some more articles, you'll realize Bill Walsh visits a lot of teams. It's not like he just decided to visit the raiders because he felt they were gonna be a bad ass team or some shit.
What a fuckin idiot.
These articles are written to make ignorant jackasses like yourself get amped about the upcoming season. Every single team has their fair share of similar articles, but the only ones buying into it are morons like you who don't know any better.
You're a fuckin retard if you think Walsh's visit is going to help that team in any way. Go read some more articles, you'll realize Bill Walsh visits a lot of teams. It's not like he just decided to visit the raiders because he felt they were gonna be a bad ass team or some shit.
What a fuckin idiot.
These articles are written to make ignorant jackasses like yourself get amped about the upcoming season. Every single team has their fair share of similar articles, but the only ones buying into it are morons like you who don't know any better.
