Hondo Carpenter | Las Vegas Raiders Insider

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Actual range will vary with options, driving conditions and habits, vehicle and batteries condition, and other factors. Available in limited quantities and select states only. I want to jump right in with Hondo Carpenter of Sports Illustrated covers the Raiders and is joining us now from Las Vegas. And boy, it's been a tumultuous week around this organization. Mark Davis deciding to pull the plug on Josh McDaniels and the GM Dave Ziegler. And after a year and a half, they are out and they're starting fresh yet again. So Hondo, you're around the team. Every day, what have the last couple days been like at the Raiders facility?

You know, I'll tell you a couple things, Amy, that are really interesting. I had reported they were not going to be fired. In fact, when fans asked me, I said 5% chance. And the reason wasn't because everybody thought there was a great job being done. But Mark Davis had given them assurances after the New England Patriot game that they were going to be back in 24. Many of us who are the beat people and some national were surprised that the firing wasn't that we thought things were going well, but assurances have been made that they were coming back. Now, I don't think Mark Davis lied.

I'm not implying that he did. It just got so bad and Josh had become so rigid in his system. I mean, Jimmy Garoppolo has been a complete failure as a quarterback, not a human being, not attacking his character, but just been such a complete failure as a Raider quarterback. And as they watched him continue to play and nothing happened in Detroit and he would not make the switch to Aidan O'Connell, the frustration began to just overflow and Mark Davis knew and he listened to some of the key alumni that things were not working and he pulled the trigger. It was a breath of fresh air. Antonio Pierce has been amazing. Champ Kelly's been amazing and I think this organization I've said on your show several times has plenty of talent.

I think they've found some reinvigoration. Antonio Pierce is elevated to the interim job and right away you can hear his passion, his enthusiasm, his energy, but what is expected of this team the rest of the way? They're expected to win and that's the motto of the franchise, just win baby.

And to Antonio's credit, this guy came out and dropped a hammer and he didn't back down from that. He didn't back down that he feels like they have the players and the winners and the guys to go do it. I don't think anybody expects them to make a playoff run, but this is a guy that I don't think, as you're the Raiders, as historic as this franchise is, I don't think this is a place for people to come learn to be a head coach. Antonio Pierce gets a nine-week job interview to learn on the job. I'm rooting for the guy, not because I'm a Raider fan.

I'm rooting for him because I root for good people. This guy's good people and Champ Kelly, what a great guy as an interim GM and they're coming in with the anticipation. His first move is he fires the offensive coordinator, promotes Bohart Agree who used to be a quarterback at Tennessee.

Lots of experience as a coach, not a coordinator. He comes in and we're going to see a lot more play action, some screens, some bubbles. You're going to see this team attacking down the field.

There is genuine excitement. When I use the term simplification, a lot of people think dumbing down and that's not what's going on, but Josh's system was rigid. It was predictable and they're going to go out and play to their strengths. I've had a front row seat to watching Nick Saban over his career and he wrote in his book that after LSU he had learned that he had made some mistakes, gotten conservative with leads. We've watched him evolve and now we've seen him win with a spread offense, with a power offense because Nick Saban adapts to his personnel.

Josh did not do that and you're watching Antonio Pierce do it. Why couldn't they figure out a way to make it work? McDaniel's is supposed to be this offensive expert and I know Tom Brady is better than anyone we've ever seen, but he had worked with Jimmy, had brought in a lot of personnel from New England. So why couldn't they find a way to mesh?

That's a great question and there are a couple of things that go with that that I think are really germane. There's a narrative that's not accurate that Josh lost the locker room and as a guy that's there every day and covering the team every day and our people are there every day, I can tell you that I never once and I'm in constant contact with players on this team, had a player ever go after him personally or ever tell me they wanted him fired. They were frustrated because they felt like there was talents and there wasn't changes made, but there wasn't anybody that turned on them. Mark Davis talked to the players a lot and there was frustration and I reported that, but there was not one person that disliked him.

I take that back. There's a couple that didn't, but they weren't significant players. He was not unlike, it's just he was so rigid and committed to his system after the Chicago Bears game. I said, you know, you preach the process, but when the process isn't working, do you scrap it, change it, or stay the course?

My question was germane because it's not working and he just stayed to his system. There was a lot of people that were supportive on the player side when he wanted to go with Brian Hoyer and so he did. At Chicago it didn't work, so he didn't give a chance to Aiden to try to be a spark to the team. He goes right back to Jimmy Garoppolo in Detroit, gets slaughtered, doesn't go to Aiden. I'm going to tell you there are several people in that building, players and management and others, who felt that Aiden O'Connell was the best quarterback, that he wasn't ready because of the rigidity of Josh's system, but they all thought he was the best quarterback and now you saw that move.

You saw Antonio Pierce, bold move, bam, we're going with Aiden O'Connell, the rookie out of out of Purdue and it's going to be fascinating to watch. This team is not fractured, this is a team that hasn't quit, this is a team that's still fighting, they're juiced, they're fired up, they're ready to go. I'll tell you one other thing, it reminds me a lot of when Rich Basaccia took over for John Gruden, but there's one difference. They loved Basaccia, but the team had some fractured parts to it. This is a team that love each other and they're united.

It's a unique situation. Everybody on that team loved Rich Basaccia, but there were divisions among the team. This team, they all like Antonio Pierce, everybody's jacked, he got the job.

He's not beloved like Rich because he had a different job. Rich had a job as a coordinator, so he touched more players, but they all like them. They're united and I hope when this year is over, I'm back on my favorite national radio host show, Amy Lawrence, and I can say I'm proud to report Champ Kelly has got the permanent job and so as Antonio Pierce.

That would be the best for the Raiders, best for those guys and I know it'd be best for the players in the locker room. Hondo Carpenter is back with us from Las Vegas. It seems like it's been a lot of negative the last couple times we've had him on the show. Covers the team for Sports Illustrated.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Hondo, Aiden O'Connell is taking over. What does he bring to the table? First of all, because of all the COVID years, he's not like he's a 21 or 20 year old kid, number one. He's a super smart. His football IQ is through the roof, number one.

Number two, he's got a big arm. He can make every throw and that's big. Now, at Purdue, he's able to make throws that in the NFL get picked off. At Purdue, he's able to hold the ball longer and so those are two areas that every rookie has to improve on and that's an area he needs to improve on, but he's super smart and his teammates, they love him. They believe in him.

I'll give you a great story. Early in training camp, you know, they weren't being rude. There was nothing excessive, but there's peas in the rookie and everyone talked about, he just took it and he loved it and he was part of the locker room and you know, you always get the one rookie comes in, that's not me, you're not doing that to me and bucks the process and people are like, wow, he's pretty arrogant. He just came in and he was really humble. When there were whispers of teammates wanting him, one particular situation, a player went to him and said, I want you to know we're really rooting for you.

We wish you were playing and oh man, no, that's okay. Don't do that because Jimmy's our guy or Brian's our guy. You know, he wasn't looking for a controversy even though he knew he was playing well in practice and had earned the right to play.

This wasn't a guy, you know, fueling the whispers. He was a big supporter of Jimmy. He's always been so complimentary of Jimmy and Brian. So, you know, a rookie that comes in is humble, earns a lot of respect in a veteran locker room and guys like that he can get him the ball and they know there's going to be a learning curve but they're rooting for their guy. One guy said it best, he's our kid. You know, he's our little brother. We believe in him. We want him and there's that sense.

I think it's going to be fun to watch. Devante Adams and Josh Jacobs, two talented players who could start and make an impact pretty much any other team in the league. Now moving forward, how do they incorporate those two stars to give a jolt to the offense? I got several NFL executives to anonymously give me their thoughts of the Raider offense. Back there, I think it was October 8th, I published the article and they talked about teams are stacking the box to stop Josh Jacobs and if it's not a run you just get to blitz Jimmy because there was no threat of the deep ball and you're going to see them now use play action which is a strength of Aiden using some bubble screens but they're going to take those shots now. You saw in the Lions game, for anybody that watched the Monday night game, even though Jimmy was throwing poorly and at one point was three of eight, the Lions even talked about it after the game, they had to adjust their defense because they were taking shots. Now Jimmy wasn't successful but they were taking some shots and when teams have to figure in the deep ball, it opens up the intermediate and short game, it opens up the running game and you saw Josh Jacobs be able to run. In fact, they had one drive where they looked exceptionally well and you're going to see that.

Bohart agrees going to attack with what Aiden does well. Again, Josh's system, and you saw this in Los Angeles with Aiden's one start against the Chargers, when it wasn't working because it was something that Aiden couldn't do or hadn't mastered yet, rather than go to what he could do, they just kept trying and it was a circular firing squad and that rigidity of this is what we do is great when you have the personnel but they don't have the personnel and so you're going to see the Raiders doing what they can do and I think that's going to be a big spark and think about this, Amy, this offense has not gone over 19 points all year and for the one game where the team did go over, the defense had a score so this is going to be very interesting to watch and I think the Raiders are going to go in and win. I think you're going to see them find a little bit of a momentum and a spark and I think you're going to see one thing that has stood out to me and I'll give you a great point, if we're up against the clock just tell me to shut up, but I had a player say to me after a win and it was great that we did this for Josh, you could tell he was stressed.

That's what I mean, they hadn't quit on him. Wednesday they get back and that Wednesday night he texts me and says man no different, no sense of relief and the player said to me this is a game it's supposed to be fun and with him it's just win or lose back to the process and the player said to me you know we're out there risking our lives, we're out there risking our futures, we're out there risking injuries or CTE or whatever. Granted we make a lot of money but we got to have fun and I think that began to weigh on them after the winning streak that wait a minute this is supposed to be fun too and I had one player, I haven't even shared this, I was going to share this on Sunday before the game so I'm sharing this nationally that said to me they almost felt relief for Josh when he got let go and said they almost felt bad for him like he just wasn't having any fun at his job and I'm sorry that player's right and you're gonna see a Raider team back having fun and I think I don't even know what price you put on that in all my years of covering the game of football it's meant to be the smell of the chlorophyll of the fresh cut grass rising like incense to heaven and on God's day off they play this game at its highest level and it's meant to be fun and it had not been fun and I think the fun's back in Vegas. Hondo Carpenter with some great insight from inside the Raiders locker room it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio we've heard from Devante Adams who very rarely speaks his discontent or his dissatisfaction he'd gotten more and more frustrated how much do you think it mattered that there were players who were willing to speak out about the challenge and the difficulty and the fact that they just didn't have any answers?

You know I'm gonna defend Josh McDaniels for a minute because obviously what he did has failed and I was one of the hardest media on him but I'm going to defend him too because I think it's important in our jobs to be truthful. One of the things that Josh did and a former New England player who's now a Raider said this to me is in New England you don't get to speak your mind so Josh didn't do it all the Patriot way he wanted those guys to speak up. Josh never wanted you know Devante Adams to be silenced he didn't have a problem with guys speaking out and I do respect him for that. Devante's voice is very loud he's the second best player on the Raiders behind Max Crosby he's one of in my opinion the best wide receiver in the NFL underutilized and he had every right to be angry.

I'm going to share something with you that I've reported but nationally people haven't. Devante Adams took less money to be a Raider. He wanted to be here. This is the team he grew up rooting for and when you take less money that speaks voluminous to a testosterone filled locker room that's based on you know guts, brawn, testosterone and cash and so when he spoke out and said listen I came here I took less money because I want to win because this franchise committed to me to win when we're not winning I'm not happy because it's not about my money it's about winning he's made a lot of money he wants the winning he's a winner him and Max Crosby are a rarity and superstars that aren't sitting at home counting their money they want to win if you said Devante Adams we'll guarantee you a Super Bowl but you play for a dollar he's taking the dollar that's him and so when he's angry and he's like we got a standard we got to okay yeah we won but we didn't play to how good we are that was right down Josh McDaniel's love language so there wasn't that Josh to his credit wanted those guys to speak out and I credit him for it because he could have tried the Bill Belichick way and this thing would have blown up he did try to do it differently it just his rigidity didn't work but it wasn't that that he leaves here hated. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio I convinced Tondo to stick around for a couple more minutes because I have this question based on your last answer do you see reasons for hope with the Raiders now moving forward? Oh yeah absolutely remember this is not a team void of talent this is not a team that doesn't have a lot of pieces this is not a team that's sitting here thinking oh my word we have nothing there was a lot more right with this team than wrong it's just the problem is what was wrong was at the forefront you got a bunch of guys that had every right to be frustrated and they were that didn't quit that's a big deal that's character that's guys who love the game of football now that speaks to Dave Ziegler and the kind of guys he brought in guys that love the game and so you and you got guys that love the game that want to win guys that are joking and laughing and hanging out in the locker room which hasn't been happening but now is again and one thing Antonio Pierce did and again I haven't even talked about this on my own reporting I'm going to do it later this weekend but you're my buddy and you draw this good stuff out of me but one of the things Antonio Pierce did is he walked in the locker room and he told the guys in the locker room I need you because we got to win and we can't wait it's not about me and one player said this to me and I thought this was brilliant he never once said guys I want this job go win this job for me it was all about us he talked about what it was like to have been a player in a winning locker room you know he's won a super bowl he talked about that feeling and how once you get it as a player it never goes away one of the players said josh never came in was selfish they weren't implying that but he also it was okay here's the process we're going to do xyz and end up at y with antonio it was about us guys I want you to taste that guys it's something that I've been there I've done it I want you to feel it I want it for you and I was told that after and again this has not been reported by me that after his first meeting with the team it erupted erupted and the guys were ready to go and and the players are ready nothing would be better for Mark Davis and Raider Nation and you're sitting here at Christmas time and Mark Davis is able to say there won't be a national search because Merry Christmas I'm keeping these two you know Amy one of the reasons that I love your show and I respect you as not only a journalist but as my friend is your show has always been about let's bring great information we don't create the news we report it you do it the right way I've always root for good people it's why I'm a fan of you and a friend and I love to watch good people prosper I love to go watch good people succeed and there is a ton of great people you know the Raider organization gets a really bad name by people outside of it and I know because I grew up in Michigan and and I've been around the country I know what people say Raider fans are like St. Louis Cardinal baseball fans they're like Nebraska college football fans Indiana Hoosier basketball fans and they're a lot like LA Laker pro basketball NBA fans and Red Wing NHL fans they're the smartest some of the smartest in the NFL they know the game I once saw a woman I'm gonna guess she was in her 90s she stopped me at Allegiant you gotta talk to the right tackle his right foot the way he places it I can always tell if it's a runner pass and I'm 90 they know the game Matt Millen who is a dear friend and a man I love and adore when I was covering him as a beat reporter when he was the general manager of the Lions he told me something I'll never forget as long as I live he said every other fan base the fans think they're part of the team but with the Raiders the players believe the fans are part of the team and for this fan base who are some of the most passionate amazing tremendous people I love walking into the stadium I always go early Homer away to just take a few minutes you can look at my twitter I'll post pictures of fans and just meet them I'm one of the few media guys that likes to follow them and talk to them these fans deserve better and a year ago at Allegiant Stadium a man stood at his seat and held a sign that said we deserve better it wasn't full of f-bombs or foul language it was just one fan saying we deserve better and I don't know if Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly will end up with it I don't know if the next coach will fail like Josh McDaniels but tonight in the Raider nation there's something that's one of the most valuable things in the world it's hope and for these people who are some of the most amazing people I'm not a fan but I hope it works because these people are special and I get to work with them every day and I'm blessed and they deserve it hope springs eternal if you give people a reason to hope they will cling to it that sounds like what's happening with the Raiders and their fan base now as big changes were made so Hondo Carpenter one of our favorites with Sports Illustrated covers the Raiders lots of insight from the locker room and the facility you can find him on Twitter at Hondo Carpenter always good to connect with you I can't believe we're three weeks out from Thanksgiving but we are so we don't talk to you again well happy Thanksgiving to you and to Raiders fans thank you thanks Amy god bless you this episode is brought to you by FX's A Murder at the End of the World starring Emma Corrin Clive Owen and Britt Marling Emma plays Darby Hart a sleuth and tech savvy hacker she joins an exclusive group invited to a retreat when one of the guests is found dead Darby must prove it was murder before the killer takes another life FX's A Murder at the End of the World now streaming only on Hulu this holiday season ask for concert and comedy tickets create your wish list at livenation.com choose from thousands of the hottest shows including Chelsea Handler, Doja Cat, Jonas Brothers, New Kids on the Block, Niall Horan, Tim McGraw and more just sign in add your favorite shows and send a helpful hint to family and friends it's never been easier to get what you want an unforgettable night out with 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