Bill Musgrave Uninspiring Choice to Develop Derek Carr

When the Oakland Raiders made Jack Del Rio their 20th head coach, the hiring of a top-notch offensive coordinator became paramount to their success. As a defensive-minded head coach, Del Rio would need an offensive mind to continue the development of his new young quarterback, Derek Carr.

Del Rio's choice is Bill Musgrave, but he’s an uninspiring option to develop Carr. Short of re-hiring Greg Olson, it’s hard to imagine a worse scenario for the Raiders.

That doesn’t mean Musgrave won’t be successful. Like Del Rio, he deserves a chance to see what he can do in Oakland. Hires derided by the media can work out. Hires praised by the media can flop—as Raiders fans are well aware after slogging through the Dennis Allen era.

Musgrave does come with a set of positives, and he’s not as bad as some will make him out to be. Musgrave just isn’t the best for Carr.

For starters, he’s experienced. This is his fourth offensive coordinator job. He also spent last year with Chip Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles—often praised for being offensive innovators. Additionally, Musgrave is credited with developing Matt Ryan as the quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2006-2010.

Familiar with Del Rio, experienced as a quarterback developer, and he just finished a crash course in Chip Kelly's offense. Sounds like a dream, until you actually look a little deeper.

When Musgrave landed his first offensive coordinator position of the Carolina Panthers, he resigned after four games. Del Rio fired him after two seasons, and then he took credit for Ryan’s development before landing yet another offensive coordinator job in Minnesota. After three years, Musgrave was out of a job again.

Years	OC	Yards	Points	Giveaways
2002	John Please	25	21	1
2003-2004 (AVG)	Bill Musgrave	17	27	14
2005	Carl Smith	15	12	2
Improvement	Musgrave	+12	-6	-13
Improvement	Smith	+2	+15	+12

Getting fired is par for the course for an NFL coach, but Musgrave hasn’t been anywhere longer than three years as offensive coordinator, and he's never had an offense better than 14th in scoring or 12th in yards. His offense was good at running the ball in Minnesota because he had Adrian Peterson.

To his credit, he used Percy Harvin successfully as a gadget player. Beyond that, Musgrave’s so-called claim to fame is still his work with Matt Ryan.  

Marc Trestman was available and interviewed with the Raiders, but they failed to land his services. He agreed to join the Baltimore Ravens as offensive coordinator Tuesday. That would have been an inspiring hire for the Raiders, Del Rio and Carr.

Trestman has his own set of flaws, but it’s hard to criticize the man as a coordinator and football mind. Trestman has coordinated top offenses three times and repeatedly maximized the talents of his quarterbacks.

Years	OC	Yards	Points	Giveaways
2010	Darrell Bevell	23	29	29
2011-2013 (AVG)	Bill Musgrave	17	16	20
2014	Norv Turner	27	20	6
Improvement	Musgrave	+6	+13	+9
Improvement	Turner	-10	-4	+14

After the Jaguars fired Musgrave, they improved almost across the board under the leadership of Carl Smith, who is now the quarterbacks coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Alternatively, the Vikings improved across the board when Musgrave took over for Darrell Bevell, now the offensive coordinator of the Seahawks. It’s a mixed bag.

Many people will point out that Musgrave was the victim of poor quarterback play. In his coordinator stops, he’s had to get the most out of Byron Leftwich, Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel. Keep in mind that it’s Musgrave’s job to develop those quarterbacks and make them look good, so it’s not fair to give him a complete pass.

People forget that Leftwich and Ponder were high first-round picks. They were supposed to develop into something, but they didn’t under the tutelage of Musgrave. That’s directly indicative of his ability to develop quarterbacks, and that’s what the Raiders need him to do with Carr.

"

Bill Musgrave is a great hire for @RAIDERS knows the game very well. #RaiderNation very good OC..

— Rock Cartwright (@Rockgotti25) January 20, 2015"

The presence of Carr was supposed to be appealing to offensive coordinator candidates, but that proved to be untrue, or Del Rio simply chose to go with Musgrave anyway.

Musgrave said in a conference call with the media:

"

The presence of Derek was definitely a factor. I think a number of coaches have expressed interest in being Jack’s offensive coordinator, and I know he talked to a number of people, and one of the main reasons would be the presence of Derek Carr.

"

If Musgrave is telling the truth, Del Rio simply chose Musgrave over other candidates. He essentially opted for the familiar instead of the best man for the job. There are plenty of quality candidates available, but Del Rio chose a candidate not too dissimilar to Greg Knapp and Greg Olson.