Raiders New Offensive Coordinator Reveals Philosophies He'll Bring to Oakland

When the Oakland Raiders hired former-Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Greg Olson to be their new offensive coordinator, there was a lot of surprise.  Olson came seemingly out of nowhere among the likes of seemingly stronger candidates Mike Martz, Norv Turner and Marc Trestman and got the job.

Olson, now with the rest of the Raiders coaching staff in Alabama for the Senior Bowl, spoke with the media for the first time since he was hired.

To read the full interview, click the link above.  

The highlight of Olson's interview was mentioning the traditional Raiders' offenses of the past with the Al Davis style of play.  Olson believes the Raiders have the potential to make explosive plays with the speed the team has.  

Olson says that he has to use the personnel the way they are meant to be used, rather than forcing a scheme on the team.  Greg Knapp should take notes from Olson there.

Olson sounds to be leaning towards Carson Palmer over Terrelle Pryor when he said that Palmer "has years left" to play while saying Pryor's future as a starter "still down the road a bit."

Olson also said he has a player "match-up problem" with Marcel Reece, the lone Pro-Bowler from the Raiders this year.  It seems like Reece didn't get the ball of much as he should have under Knapp's offense in 2012, except for when Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson were hurt, as he had 62 touches on offense during a three-week stretch.

The best part of Olson's interview was when he said he was a "downhill run-type guy" which should be music to Darren McFadden's ears.  McFadden went from averaging 5.3 yards per carry in 2010-11, a figure that plummeted to 3.3 yards per carry for 2012 season, the main difference being the blocking scheme.

Although we are yet to see the team on the field under Olson's offense, I like what I see from him in the interview.  With the references to Al Davis and explosive plays and downhill running, it sounds like the Raiders offense will be back to their 2011 form.

It's just a matter of if they will be able to execute as well as they did in 2011.