The Oakland Raiders coaching staff has five fewer members. The following coaches were either fired or not re-signed: linebackers coach Mike Haluchak, quarterbacks coach Ted Tollner, quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett, offensive line coach Jim Michalczik and assistant line coach Chris Morgan. In typical Raiders fashion this news was made available by the simple deletion of their names for the team website.
None of these moves could come as a big surprise. In fact, Jim Michalczik has already been introduced as the offensive line coach for the California Golden Bears.
The most interesting bit here is that two of the more maligned coaches by fans remain on the roster. It appears that both special teams coach John Fassel and wide receiver coach Sanjay Lal will be back with the club next year. Fassel’s special teams saw immense improvements in kickoff returns, but slipped a bit in coverage.
As for Lal, he takes a lot of criticism, but I am not sure what people expect. He is a coach, not a miracle wielding genie. As below average as the Raiders receivers were, they showed improvements. It is also worth mentioning that rookie Jacoby Ford went way beyond expectations as part of both Fassel’s and Lal’s groups.