Will the Oakland Raiders Build a Model That Gets More Victories?

A vision precedes the manifestation of what is seen. Al Davis and the coaches have to have a working model in their heads.

They have to have a clear idea of what kind of team they need, and they have to simulate in their heads what kind of results they expect in 2010.

That's why the NFL draft is so important. The selections for the Oakland Raiders have to fit the context of the vision of a winning team. 

Of course, if you have never been a part of a winning team, then it may be more difficult to envision what is needed to develop a winning team.

Now, Al Davis ought to know what makes a winning team. Is the composition of a winning team in 2010 the same as it was during the days the Oakland Raiders had more wins per season? Obviously, the anwer is no.

The NFL rules have changed. The context on the playing field is different. A model must be built and tweaked to improve the results.

There are few constants in the game of professional football. There are many variables, and those variables get transformed or deformed based on injuries, and other dynamics.

From another discipline, we can learn something that may give more wisdom to those who are searching for the right model to ensure more victories for the Oakland Raiders.

First, what is a model?

It is a representation. It is a part of a simulation. It allows us to "cast the situation into a more convenient form." It allows us to tweak the situation, and test the "what ifs."

A model builder has to know the game of football so well that he or she can do "divergent thinking" on the spot and make good decisions, even if there are all kinds of transformations, including deformations (injuries, poor referees, etc) going on in the game.

Why do I say they must use divergent thinking? It is because convergent thinking is a dichotomy. Yes or no is all you have to answer. However, divergent thinking requires a broader, deeper knowledge-base of the situations and complex dynamics on the playing field. The coaches either have to have the intuition, acumen, cognition, psychology, and more all blended in their heads to make a smart choice of plays to optimize the outcome.

When this is done well, more victories will be experienced.

If and when the coaches come up with a good, working model, they will be able to forecast outcomes with more accuracy.

That type of thinking and leadership has been lacking in the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff. How do I know? The results for the past seven years tell all of us so.

A book on geometric modeling, written by Michael E. Mortenson, defines the following:

"If the model is rich enough in descriptive detail, we can perform operations on it that yield the same results as operations performed on the object itself."

This means that during training and practice the coaches must know each and every player very well. Each of the combinations of plays and routes must be known extremely well.

All of those things that help make an excellent team must be done so well, that the destiny of the Oakland Raiders is transformed from losses to wins.

Now this type of divergent thinking is urgently needed.

Also, if you have an opponent, you need to know your opponent as well as you know the Oakland Raiders. Football is not played in a vacuum, so it is naive to not spend time anticipating the moves of your opponent.

You need to know the pattern of the opponents' reactions, and of other matters so that you can build up a good defensive strategy.

In a way, teaching is like playing football. Every class or group of students has a different "collective personality."

For example, I had one class with a character to "lie" about the assignments that I announced. What do I do as a defense? I started taping all announcements of assignments, and uploaded them on my webpage for easy reference.

Well, now these "slick" students have to be careful when they say the assignment was not announced.

On another occasion, a group of older students tried to play a "power" game. One of them said, "You talk too fast." I answered (my defense), "No, you either have a listening skills problem or you may think too slowly while attempting to take notes and listen."

So, one by one, we adjust, build or rebuild a scheme of responses and behaviors to uphold and defend, and even control the teaching model we believe works well in the classroom.

And, so it is on the playing field. You have got to be quick-witted, smart, and come up with strategies to move the Oakland Raiders toward victory.

Unlike some girls in the younger generation in my family, I don't play football, but I am competitve and determined. So, as I watch football games, I think with all of the content and discipline that I have been taught.

So do your homework during offseason and during training, and come up with a working, winning model for the Oakland Raiders in 2010.

Go Raiders!